Bittersweet Ending
by xXOnceUponADreamXx
Summary: Spoilers for the seventh book! Don't read if you haven't read the book! Briar Rose's death shook the whole Grimm family but when a famous wizard offers them a way to bring her back to life will Uncle Jake risk everything to bring her back? PuckxSabrina
1. Prologue

**This story is currently getting a much needed rewrite. Since I'm doing it in my spare time, it could take a while. If you wish to read it as it is now, feel free to leave any type of review ( a critique or whatever). If you would rather wait, I'll add an epilogue when I'm finished editing, so you'll know.**

**A/N- **Disclaimer- I own nothing, it all belongs to Micheal Buckley!

Warnings- Some of the characters might seem OOC but I'll try my best. =D

**Rated T** for some violence.

* * *

_**I wanted a happy ending. I should have known better. Princesses don't always marry the handsome Prince, heroes don't always win and loved ones don't always come back.**_

_Why?_

She didn't understand why they called it heartbreak. To her it felt like everything was broken. She felt like someone was playing tug-o-war with her emotions.

She knew she should feel happy but at the same time she knew she should feel sad. The only emotion that was clear was anger; anger at herself, anger at the Everafters, anger at everyone; anger at life for taking everything she loved away from her.

_Why?_

And all the time that she had been wondering what she should be feeling her heart had been breaking.

Not in two, but in a million pieces.

_Why?_

Sabrina stopped walking and leaned her back against a tree trunk, slowly sliding down it until she was sitting on the hard ground. She knew her family was probably worried about her but she just couldn't stay in that house, the house that seemed strangely quiet now; the house where everyone was just as confused as she was.

_It's strange, _she thought, _how someone can be standing beside you, breathing, laughing, alive and then be as cold as stone in a matter of seconds._

It was like that when Briar Rose had died. One second she was alive and then she was crumpled underneath a tree.

_Why?_

Right now she'd do anything for another tear in time. A chance to go back and fix everything, a chance to stop the thing that had happened in that dark hallway. A chance to stop all the pain, sorrow, guilt and regret from happening.

_Why?_

Why hadn't she done something? Why hadn't she been faster? She prided herself on her ability to think quickly in tough situations but the moment she needed to do something, all she could do was stand there and gap.

Why did it have to happen like that? Why couldn't everything have worked out, just this once? _WHY?_

She snorted. But what had she expected? A happy ending? If there was one thing that living in a town filled with fairy tale characters had taught her, it was that there is no such thing as a happy ending.

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**A/N- **There's the first chapter-thingy. What do you think about it so far? Please review! =D


	2. Winnie the Pooh

**A/N- **Sorry about how long it took to update. My computers being dumb. =(

Sky- Sorry if I upset you, or anybody else! I didn't mean too!

Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!! =D

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_Five days earlier-_

At a first glance, no one would have thought anything about the little town of Ferryport Landing, except that it was small, and looked boring. They would never have guessed that the town was in the middle of a war, an Everafter war. They would never have guessed that hidden somewhere up in the mountains was an army camp, filled with fairy tale characters and six humans. Two of those humans were staring at two of the new refuges coming in: a bear in a red shirt and a tiny pig.

Sabrina Grimm was staring in disbelief while Daphne's hand was inches away from her mouth, preparing to stick her palm into her mouth.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sabrina said, as the bear started to talk to one of the guards.

"Is that really. . . ?" Daphne asked the handsome, yet stuck up, man beside her.

"Yes," Charming said, "that's the one and only Winnie the Pooh." He groaned and pointed to one of the Merry Men, "You! Go hide the honey!"

Daphne let out a high pitched squeal and bit her palm, jumping up and down.

"Oh," Sabrina said sarcastically, "Now we're going to beat the Scarlet Hand. We've got Winnie the Pooh and Piglet on out side!"

"Is it true that if you blow him up, bacon will fly out?" Puck asked, staring hungrily at the tiny pig.

"RUN, PIGLET!" Daphne shouted, "RUN!"

Piglet dove underneath a table and put his arms over his head while Pooh Bear just looked around with a confused expression on his face.

"Did you really have to say that?" Sabrina said to the fairy.

"What?" Puck said, shrugging, "I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Sabrina muttered, casting another worried look at the cabin behind her. The Grimm family had come to the new and improved Camp Charming to visit Uncle Jake but he had been asleep.

"I hope he's okay." Sabrina said.

"Why wouldn't he be?" Puck asked.

Sabrina stared at him, shocked. Had he really not payed attention to what had happened a few days ago?

"You really are an idiot." She said.

Puck's chest puffed out, "No I'm not, you're just jealous because I'm smarter than you are!"

Sabrina laughed, "Oh, sure. This is coming from the boy who thought all you had to do to turn a treadmill off was to stop running!" She smiled at the memory. When the fairy had stopped running he had been flung against the wall.

Puck glared at her, "That was only because I was infected by your puberty virus!"

"Ugh, how many times do I have to tell you?" Sabrina said, "Puberty isn't a virus, you dolt!"

"Don't call me a dolt!" Puck snapped.

"Then don't act like one!" Sabrina snapped back.

"UGH! Will you two just SHUT UP?" Charming yelled, "You've been here for a few hours and you already make me want to claw my eyes out!"

Puck's eyes nearly popped out of his face, "Oh, do it! That'd be so awesome!"

Charming stared at him, "You are one deranged little boy." He said before walking off.

Puck's face lit up, "Thanks!" he shouted.

Sabrina stared at him and shook her head.

"What are you staring at, ugly?" he said.

"What did you just say to my daughter?!" Henry asked, "My daughter is not ugly."

Puck shook his head sympathetically, "Looks like someone's in denial. Now I see why you guys were so cranky when you woke up. Now you have to look at her ugly face every day."

Henry's face grew bright red, "Now, listen here young man . . ."

"Fairy." Puck and Sabrina said.

"Fairy," Henry said through gritted teeth, "you do not. . .

He was interrupted by shouts coming from inside the cabin. Uncle Jake burst out the door, looking around wildly.

His hair was sticking up in every possible direction and he had a half crazed look in his eyes.

"Briar?" He said, looking around and running towards the camp's door, "BRIAR?!"

"Jake!" Henry yelled, running after him and grabbing his arm before he could leave, "Jake! She's not here!" Henry said as Uncle Jake started to struggle.

"Yes, she is!" Uncle Jake said, "I saw her! I saw her!"

"It was a dream, Jake!" Henry said, his voice softening with pity, "She's gone."

Uncle Jake stopped struggling and stared into space, "No." he said, "There's got to be a way to bring her back! There has to be!"

"Jake. . ." Henry started but Jake shook his head.

"No. There has to be and I'm going to find it!" he said stubbornly, his jaw clenching the way it does when he's determined to do something. Sabrina knew from experience that when her uncle was determined to do something, it was next to impossible to change his mind.

"I'll look everywhere! Even if it takes me forever!" Uncle Jake said.

"Well, you don't have to look very far." A voice said.

Everyone turned to see an old man standing at the camp's entrance. His white hair had steaks of its old black color but the twinkle in his blue eyes and how he stood up straight seemed to contradict his old age. In his hand he held a long knobby wooden staff. A little brown owl perched itself on top of the staff and seemed to glare at everyone with its big yellow eyes.

"The only thing is," the old man said, his eyes twinkling, "are you prepared to risk everything to get it?"

Uncle Jake opened his mouth but a shout interrupted him.

King Arthur was staring wide eyed at the stranger, "Merlin?" he said, a giant smile on his face, "MERLIN!"

King Arthur ran over and gave the old man a hug, "Where have you been, old man?"

Merlin laughed, "It's a long story for another time." The wizard frowned at the owl and shook his staff, "Archimedes! How many times have I told you, don't sit on the staff?!"

Archimedes landed on the wizards head and ruffled his feathers, "I don't know," he huffed, "I lost count."

"Still as cranky as ever I see, Archimedes." Arthur said.

"You would be too if you were woken up from your beauty sleep and you're still as rude as ever, I see." Archimedes said, but, if owls could smile, Sabrina would have sworn that Archimedes was smiling.

Merlin eyed Uncle Jake, "Enough catching up. Right now we have something more important to address. Now, to get what you want, you're going to have to risk your life." Merlin said, his expression turning serious, "You're going to have to face down dragons and demons. Are you sure you're willing?"

Uncle Jake nodded his head without a moment of hesitation, "Yes," he said, "I'm sure."

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Merlin led the family into a cabin. It was a tight squeeze and it took a while for everyone to get comfortable but everyone managed to fit. Sabrina found herself uncomfortably close to Puck, who smelled like a sewer.

"How are we supposed to bring Briar back?" Henry asked; he still didn't believe that it was possible.

"With a potion." Merlin said.

"A potion? Do you have it?" Granny Relda asked.

"I have the bottle," Merlin said, pulling an empty bottle out of his pocket, "But you need to get the ingredients." The old wizard said to Uncle Jake.

"What ingredients?" Uncle Jake asked.

Merlin pulled a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Uncle Jake.

Uncle Jake grabbed it and read it out loud, "Blood of a Dragon, tear of a Phoenix, fire of a fairy and venom of a . . . a demon."

"A demon?" Henry said, "You expect him to go out and risk his life for some venom?!"

"It's his choice," Merlin said, "The potion might not work. Do you still wish to do it?" he asked Uncle Jake.

Uncle Jake stared down at the piece of paper in his hand. Everyone in the small cabin held their breath as they waited for him to answer. Sabrina hoped that he wasn't going to say yes and risk his life on something that might not work, but she knew her uncle.

Uncle Jake looked up and said, "Yes."

"Jake! You've got to be joking! You can't!" Henry said, jumping up.

"I have to, Henry!" Jake said, "What would you do if Veronica had died?"

"I . . . I. . . this is nonsense!" Henry said, sitting down again, "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I don't care." Uncle Jake said.

"Well, I do!" Granny Relda said.

"Mom, please," Uncle Jake said and Sabrina saw all the grief and pain he had been holding in flash across his face. This was his chance to make it all go away and he was going to take it, even if it cost him his life, "I have too."

"Don't worry, Granny!" Daphne said quickly, "I'll keep him safe!"

"YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" Henry yelled, "You and Sabrina," he said, giving Sabrina a meaningful look, "are both going to stay here!"

"Why? We can help!" Daphne said.

"Why? Why? Because you're only seven!" Henry yelled.

"You two are not coming." Uncle Jake said, "and neither are you Puck." He said quickly before the fairy could open his mouth, "I couldn't stand it if any of you died."

"Never seemed to stop you before." Henry muttered.

"Not now, Henry!" Uncle Jake said before turning to Merlin, "Tell me about this demon."

Merlin shook his head, "There's not just one demon but a bunch of them." The old man looked out the window, "I'll show you as soon as the sun sets. Now, once you get the potion you must pour it over her grave."

Uncle Jake looked down, "I . . . I can't. Her grave was in the old camp and the Scarlet Hand destroyed it."

Merlin frowned, "That complicates things."

Archimedes hooted, "You think?"

"Be quiet, you cranky old hoot!" Merlin said.

"Oh, I'm old? Look at who's talking!" Archimedes said.

Merlin muttered something and ignored the little brown owl, "What's that in your pocket?" he asked Uncle Jake.

Uncle Jake pulled the rose from Briar's grave out of his pocket. Sabrina was surprised that it hadn't died yet; it looked as fresh as it had days ago.

"This is a rose." Uncle Jake said, gently fingering the petals.

"Really, Einstein? I couldn't have guessed." Archimedes mumbled.

"It's from Briar's grave." Uncle Jake added, pain and regret flashing across his face. Sabrina felt a pang of sympathy for her uncle and found herself wishing that this potion thing would work.

"Let me see it." Merlin said, gently taking the rose from Uncle Jake. The old man ran his fingers over the rose and Sabrina saw a light purple hue form around it. Merlin nodded his head and handed the rose back to Uncle Jake, "It's magic." He said, "It has enough of her aura in it that it should work as well as if you were pouring the potion over her grave."

"If it does work." Henry muttered, "This is nonsense."

"You don't get it, Henry!" Uncle Jake snapped, "You didn't know her! She is . . . was . . . great! More than great! You'd understand if you had met her."

Henry shook his head and mumbled something else.

Merlin ignored him and stood up, "You already have one of the ingredients. I believe there's a fairy in the room."

Everyone turned to look at Puck, who had been trapping ants in a corner and smashing them. Puck looked up, "What?" he said.

"We need your . . . all he has to do is breathe fire into it right?" Jake asked Merlin.

Puck looked around with a confused expression on his face, "Breathe fire into what?"

Merlin nodded his head and handed Puck the bottle, "Just blow fire into that."

Puck stared at everyone and shook his head, "I have told you guys that you're all freaks, right?" he said, taking a deep breath and blowing into the bottle. A small puff of flame flew out of his mouth and circled around the inside of the bottle, changing colors.

"Is it supposed to do that?" Veronica asked, staring at the multi-colored fire.

"Maybe it's because his breath stinks." Sabrina said, grinning when Puck glared at her.

Merlin laughed and shook his head, "Yes, it's supposed to do that. Now, Jake, come with me and I'll show you the demons' castle."

As Uncle Jake stood up, Granny Relda grabbed his arm, "Jake, please think about this!" She said.

Uncle Jake gently pulled his arm free from Granny's grip, "I have, Mom, and I have to do this. I can't live without her." He kissed his mom on her forehead and followed Merlin out of the cabin.

Henry shook his head and walked out of the cabin.

Veronica smiled at Granny Relda and grabbed her hand, "I'm sure he'll be fine." She said, leading Granny Relda out of the cabin.

As soon as the adults left the room, Puck stood up in front of Sabrina and Daphne, his long insect wings popping out of his back, "So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Sabrina asked.

Puck sighed, "Do you really expect me to believe that you're going to just sit here instead of going after Jake? And if you're going, I'm going 'cause I smell danger and a chance to kill another dragon."

Sabrina was about to tell him to buzz off when an idea hit her. She eyed his wings and smiled, "Actually . . ." she said.

Puck grinned, "I'm way ahead of you." He said.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Puck flew over the forest, just low enough for Sabrina and Daphne to keep an eye on Merlin and Uncle Jake. The two adults had decided to take the flying carpet instead of walking around the mountain at night.

"Puck! Not so low! They might see us!" Sabrina said.

"I'll fly as low as I want too, Grimm!" Puck snapped.

"Fine! Do that and watch us get caught!" Sabrina snapped back.

"We're going to get caught if you two don't be quiet!" Daphne said.

They watched as the flying carpet lowered itself into the trees beside a valley.

"Don't land right on top of them!" Sabrina said and Puck scowled, turning sharply and landing somewhere close to where Merlin and Uncle Jake were.

"Stop telling me what to do!" Puck said angrily to Sabrina.

"Shut up before they hear us!" Sabrina snapped.

"Oh, we've already heard you." Merlin stepped out of the trees' shadows, quickly followed by Uncle Jake.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Uncle Jake said, "Go back right now!"

Sabrina frowned; Uncle Jake never acted like this before. He usually wanted to take them along with him.

"No." Daphne said, "We're going to help you and we're not leaving!"

"Yeah, you owe me for the fire!" Puck added.

Uncle Jake opened his mouth but Merlin stopped him, "No. Let them stay. They could help you. Now, follow me."

Uncle Jake looked like he was about to say something else but just shook his head and followed Merlin. Sabrina and Daphne looked at each other, both shocked at their uncle was acting and then followed him into the trees, Puck walking behind them.

They found Merlin couching just outside of the forest, staring down at the valley, "Here's the castle." He said.

Sabrina stared down at the valley. It looked like a flat pancake. A giant grassy, empty pancake.

"I don't see anything." Sabrina said.

Merlin lifted his finger to his lips, his eyes twinkling the way a child's does when he's about to reveal a secret.

"Just watch." He said.

Sabrina frowned and stared down at the valley, thinking about how crazy the old wizard was when a cloud, that had been covering the moon, moved.

Moonlight rained down on the valley and Sabrina gasped. As soon as the moon light hit the valley a giant castle was revealed, but it certainly wasn't a fairy tale castle. It was made completely out of stone as black as the night sky. Hanging skeletons decorated the outside, warning intruders and thieves of the punishment that awaited them, and long twisted towers reached up towards the sky. It radiated a menacing air.

Daphne gasped and pointed up to the sky, "What's that?"

Sabrina looked up to see something flying around the sky. At first she thought it was another fairy . . . then it flew into the moon light.

Sabrina gasped. It looked like a mix between a human and a reptile. It was covered in dark green scales with two long black bat like wings extending from its back. As Sabrina looked closer she saw that it had long, deadly sharp claws on its hands and feet.

"What is that?" Sabrina asked.

"That is one of the demons." Merlin said.

The demon turned in the air and froze. Sabrina felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise and she had a strange feeling that it was staring at them. The thing jerked its head back and let out a piercing, high pitched scream.

"Uh-oh." Merlin said.

"Uh-oh? What, uh-oh?" Uncle Jake said, looking around uneasily.

"That, uh-oh." Merlin said as the demon let out another ear shattering shriek, pulled its wings back and rocketed straight towards the group.

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**A/N- **Just to let you know, it might be a while till I update again. 'mumbles' dumb computer.


	3. The Demon

**A/N- **Sorry it took so long to update and sorry if this chapter isn't good.

Thanks for the reviews!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You guys are the best!!!! =)

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Sabrina bit back a scream as the demon flew towards them. It started to get so close that she saw its red eyes glaring at her.

Wait . . . they weren't red . . . they were green; emerald green, like Puck's. Sabrina found herself staring, transfixed, into the demons eyes. Every fear about being eaten alive flew away as she stared into those, pretty eyes. The eyes seemed to pull her forward, urging her to come closer to the demon.

"Child! Don't look into its eyes!" A voice shouted. A bright purple flash filled her vision. Sabrina closed her eyes against the glare and heard another ear shattering shriek fill the air. When she opened them again she saw the demon flying away, only to turn back and race towards them again.

"Come on, child!" Merlin said, grabbing her hand. The wizards staff was glowing, a purple ball of light resting on the top. "Hurry and whatever you do, don't look into its eyes!"

Sabrina followed him and Uncle Jake as they ran into the forest, the branches and thorns scratching their faces and arms. Something was trying to break through the branches above their heads. Sabrina saw a flash of claws, liquid dripping from them. The liquid hit the ground with a hiss and burned straight through the litter of leaves that covered the ground.

_Poison, _Sabrina thought and then something hit her. Daphne. Where was Daphne?

"DAPHNE!" Sabrina screamed, stopping and turning around, fear making it hard to breathe. What if the little girl got caught by the demon? What if she was dead?

"Daphne?!" She yelled again, struggling when someone grabbed her arm.

"She's okay, 'Brina!" Uncle Jake said, dragging her through the trees, "Puck's got her."

That's when she saw Puck running after them, ducking away from the falling branches, tugging Daphne behind him.

"Daphne!" Sabrina said, grabbing her little sister.

"I don't see why we're running." Puck muttered, "I could take that over sized beast on." He said but she saw the fear flash across his face when he looked up.

Another shriek filled the air as something slammed into the tree beside them. This time the demon didn't stop. It kept forcing itself through the branches towards the kids.

"GET DOWN!" someone yelled and Sabrina didn't have to be told twice. She flung herself to the ground, taking Daphne down with her and covered the little girl with her arms. She felt something land on top of her but she didn't dare to look over and see who, or what, it was. She closed her eyes tight as another blast of purple light turned night into day. Another shriek filled the air, louder and closer this time. It sounded like someone dragging their fingernails down the longest chalkboard in the world and it sent shivers down her spin.

The shriek gradually got softer and softer until Sabrina couldn't hear it anymore. She slowly looked over her shoulder and found herself staring at Puck. The fairy was lying right on top of her, his face inches away from hers.

"What are you doing?" she asked, trying to stop her beating heart.

Puck stared at her for a second and then scowled, "I tripped." He said, as if that explained everything.

"Oh, so the Mighty Trickster King fell?" Sabrina said sarcastically, noticing that Puck hadn't moved off of her yet.

Puck sneered and stood up, "Like you did any better, Grimm. I couldn't hear anything over you screams!"

Sabrina glared at him as she felt her face heat up. He always seemed to know how to get under her skin and make her feel like an idiot.

She ignored the fairy and looked down at Daphne, "You okay?"

"That was so not gravy." Daphne groaned.

Sabrina stood up and helped her sister off the ground. She turned to see Merlin staring up at the sky through the leaves, his staff lifted as if waiting for the demon to come back.

"Is everyone okay?" Uncle Jake asked, walking out from behind a tree.

Sabrina, Daphne and Puck nodded but Merlin kept staring up at the sky.

"We'd better hurry before more come." The old wizard said, turning around and walking deeper into the forest.

Sabrina walked behind Uncle Jake, her hand gripping Daphne's. She wasn't going to lose her little sister again. She looked down at the little girl. Daphne's face was pale but she did her best to look brave as if running from a demon happened every day. Sabrina felt anger fill her. This wasn't a life for a little kid! The scariest thing that should happen to little kids is them having to eat vegetables! Not being chased around by things that shouldn't exist!

Speaking of things that shouldn't exist; Sabrina looked over her shoulder at Puck. The fairy was being strangely quiet. Usually he would have been complaining about having to run away. He usually would have been telling everyone about how he could beat that demon with one hand tied behind his back.

"What are you staring at, Grimm?" Puck sneered at her.

"A very smelly fairy." Sabrina said, turning her attention back to the front.

"I'd rather be smelly than ugly," Puck said, "I don't see why we're running. All we have to do is show the demon your face and then it will go crying to its mom."

Sabrina spun around, hands balled into fists, "Listen here, fairy boy," she growled, "You'd better shut up or you're going to regret it!"

"Regret it?" Puck snorted, "I already regret it! I have to look at your face now!"

"Puck, Sabrina! Stop it!" Uncle Jake yelled, "Can you two just stop fighting for a few seconds?!"

"He started it!" Sabrina said.

"She started it!" Puck said.

They glared at each other so hard that Daphne thought she saw sparks flying out of their eyes.

Uncle Jake groaned, "I guess not."

Sabrina glared at the fairy and then turned around, determined not to look at Puck again. She entertained herself with the thought of the demon flying down and taking Puck away. She could hear the fairy muttering something behind her but she couldn't catch what it was. Why was he being so annoying? You'd think that nearly being killed by a demon would have at least shut him up for a few seconds but no.

The demon. Why had its eyes changed colors?

They stopped walking and took a break underneath the safety of some trees. Merlin leaned against a tree and took out a small bottle of water, taking a drink and then passing it around.

"Merlin," Sabrina said to the old wizard, "Why couldn't we look into the demon's eyes?"

"Because," Merlin said, his eyes surveying the sky, "the demons have the ability to change their eyes to look like someone who attracts you. It's a trick that has led many to their death."

"Attract?" Daphne asked.

"It changes their eye color to resemble someone you love." Merlin said.

Sabrina felt her face heat up and her eyes shot over to Puck. He was looking at her, his face as red as her's felt.

Sabrina quickly looked away and then looked back to Merlin as he started to talk.

"So, all you have to do is get some blood from the dragon, a tear from the phoenix and some venom from a demon." Merlin said.

"Whoa! We have to get poison from that thing?" Daphne said.

Merlin nodded his head and then turned to Uncle Jake, "I would start with the dragon first, then the phoenix and then the demon. If you still wish to do it."

Sabrina looked pleadingly at her Uncle, "Uncle Jake, you can't really do it! You saw that thing! It would be suicide to even go near it!"

Uncle Jake shook his head, "I have to Sabrina. You can go back to the camp if you want but I'm going to do it."

"Well, I'm going with you!" Daphne said, glaring at Sabrina as if waiting for her to object.

Sabrina sighed, "Fine. I'll come too."

They looked over to Puck and the fairy shrugged.

"Well, someone has to make sure you guys don't die." He said.

Merlin nodded his head, "The dragon's cave is at the top of the mountain. Just walk towards the sunset and you should reach it soon. If everything goes well, the dragon should be able to tell you where the phoenix lives." Merlin said.

"Wait, you're not coming with us?" Sabrina asked.

Merlin shook his head, "As much as I wish I could, I can't. I'm too old to be running around the mountain."

"So you're going to leave us?" Sabrina said.

Merlin nodded his head, "Sadly I must but I wish you luck."

"We're going to need a lot more than luck." Sabrina muttered.

Uncle Jake shook Merlin's hand, "I can't tell you how thankful I am that you told me about the potion."

"Just remember that it might not work," Merlin said, his staff glowing, "Be on the lookout. The demon's probably aren't happy that you guys got away and they're not going to stop until they catch you."

_Great, now we've got angry demons chasing us! _Sabrina thought.

"Remember, don't look into their eyes!" Merlin said.

There was a flash of light and the wizard was gone, leaving the group alone in the woods.

"At least we still have the flying carpet." Jake said.

Sabrina sighed, thinking of the days ahead. She already had plenty of run-ins with dragons and she already met a demon. None of them were very nice and she wondered it the phoenix would be any better.

Sabrina shook her head, they were going to need a lot more than a flying carpet and luck to bring Briar back.


	4. The Dragon King

Dark. Dark room, dark castle, dark stone, dark claws, dark heart. She liked darkness, it was so much better than light. The Demon Queen was sitting on a throne made out of obsidian as black as the night sky. She sat straight and proud, the perfect picture of grace and deadliness but her blood red eyes were filled with hate.

Jezebel. She liked that name, even if it was a human one. It meant 'the impure one.' It fit her well, her demon slaves agreed with that. Queen Jezebel; it had a wonderful ring to it.

Jezebel scowled, her long, sharp claws digging into the human skull she was holding. She had just heard about the intruders and how they had escaped; three humans, a wizard and a fairy. She hadn't been pleased with how her slave had let them escape. Jezebel glared down at the skull, it had belonged to the last human who had come to the castle. How long had it been since she had last heard the screams of a human as he felt her poison running through his veins? She missed the look of horror on humans' faces when they saw her; with her snake scale skin, red eyes, poisonous fangs and long, deadly black claws.

It was all because of that mayor! Who did she think she was? Chasing all of the demons' prey out of town! Jezebel's scowl deepened, she'd make sure that that pompous, bloated woman paid.

_Careful, you don't want to waste your anger, _the demon Queen smiled as she thought of her plans. After sending the worthless demon slave away to be killed, Jezebel had thought of a plan. One that couldn't fail. She wasn't about to let the humans go so easily, not after how long it had been since she had killed one. No, she planned to catch them and kill them as slowly as possible.

Wanting to catch them and kill them wasn't all because she hadn't killed a human in so long. She also wanted to catch them because they had made a mockery of her and her kind! Trespassing into her territory and then escaping without a single scratch! Her long black claws dug into the arms of her throne, digging holes into the obsidian and her red eyes flashed with rage, a sight that would have made even the bravest man faint.

Jezebel relaxed, getting off her throne with grace that shouldn't belong to something so sinister. She walked down the long room, the long claws of her feet clacking on the hard floor, a cold smile playing on her black lips.

It didn't matter now, the intruders would pay and she'd enjoy catching them herself and watching them squirm in pain as she killed them.

Her smiled grew wider and she laughed, a laugh that could only belong to someone who was used to laughing over the sounds of people screaming. She planned to catch them herself and bring them back to her castle and she knew just how to do that.

The demon queen walked out of the throne room and down the hall, passing one of the few windows in the castle.

The light from the morning sun bathed the black floor. Jezebel hated light, it gave her a headache and if she stayed in it for too long if felt like her scales were on fire but the number one reason she hated it was because it gave people hope. But it did prove to be useful every now and then. As soon as Jezebel stepped into the light she changed.

Snake scales were replaced by smooth, pale skin. Black claws melted into long, graceful fingers. Long red-gold hair brushed her shoulders and her eyes changed from blood red to deep green eyes flecked with brown.

Jezebel would have passed as a human except for the malevolent smile on her lips; a smile that told of lust for blood and other peoples' pain.

Yes, she knew exactly how to meet those intruders so that they didn't expect a thing.

She could almost hear their screams. Jezebel stepped out of the sun and back into the shadows, transforming into the demon that she was, her smile widening.

She couldn't wait.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

An owl hooted for about the hundredth time. Sabrina rolled over and glared up at the tree she thought the annoying owl might be hiding in. She thought about throwing a rock or something at it but the thought that it might not be an owl changed her mind.

Who knew what types of creatures roamed the mountains at night?

Sabrina sighed and looked over at her little sister. Daphne was sleeping peacefully beside her, snoring her head off. A small smile appeared on Sabrina's lips, she didn't have to worry about anything coming near them. The sound Daphne was making would scare anything and Puck's smell would make any creature stay away.

Sabrina's eyes wandered over to the fairy, he was sprawled out against a tree a few feet away. She stared at his sleeping face; he looked peaceful, not at all like the mischievous fairy when he was awake. He was actually kinda cute . . .

Sabrina scowled, what was she thinking? This was the fairy that had given her a tail! He was also the fairy that had saved her life on a number of occasions and he was the fairy whose green eyes always made her heart beat faster than usual.

Sabrina groaned, she was losing her mind! This was Puck! The smelly, annoying, fairy!

She rolled onto her back and tried to see the sky through the screen of branches hanging over her head.

Uncle Jake had decided that they should sleep under the shade of trees instead of out in the open, just in case the demon came back.

Sabrina shivered at the memory. She could almost picture the black claws reaching towards her through the branches. A shuffling sound made her freeze. She turned her head and watched as Uncle Jake stood up and walked away, careful not to step on anybody.

_Where's he going? _She wondered, waiting five seconds and then standing up and following him. She walked through the trees, trying not to get distracted by all the strange creatures she passed. She could have sworn she saw Tinker Bell's cousin fly past her head.

Sabrina stopped when she spotted her uncle standing in the middle of a small clearing, staring up at the night sky. He pulled something out of his pocket and held it gently. The rose from Briar Rose's grave. Sabrina watched as the brave mask her uncle put on during the day cracked and fell away, revealing the heart broken man underneath.

Uncle Jake whispered something and Sabrina leaned forward, trying to hear what he said. Her foot stepped on a twig, snapping it in half.

The _snap _sounded like a gunshot in the quiet forest and Sabrina froze but her uncle had already spotted her. Immediately the mask was back and he gave her a small smile, leaning his head back to look at the sky again.

Sabrina walked out and stood beside her uncle, staring up at the sky, trying to find out what he was looking at.

"You know," he said, "I always thought stars were cool even though no matter how hard I tried I could never see the constellations. Briar had said I was trying too hard. But no matter what I do, I can only see part of the Big Dipper." Uncle Jake frowned up at the sky, "Or is it the Little Dipper?"

Sabrina shrugged.

The smile left Uncle Jake's face and he stared intently at the sky, as if he could find Briar somewhere among the stars.

Uncle Jake sighed, "'Brina, why don't you take the others to the camp? You'll be safer there."

Sabrina shook her head, "The only way I'm coming to camp is if you come too and you know Daphne's not going anywhere without you."

Uncle Jake's gaze drifted back to the rose, "I can't go back, 'Brina. I have to try."

"And if you die?" Sabrina said even though she didn't even want to think about that.

Uncle Jake shrugged, like dieing was no big deal, "Then I die but . . . I can't live without her. You should understand better than anyone. How did you feel when you thought your parents had died? Didn't you cling onto the hope that they were still alive? Wouldn't you have done anything to see them again?"

Sabrina looked up into the star filled sky. She did understand how he felt. The only thing that had kept her from going off the deep end when he parents had gone missing was Daphne.

Sabrina sighed, "What are you going to do if it doesn't work?" she asked, staring at her uncle.

Uncle Jake shrugged again, "I don't know. I'll probably either stay with Charming's army or leave town."

Sabrina looked at him in shock, "Leave Ferryport Landing?"

That had always been her wish; leaving Ferryport Landing. It didn't sound like something Uncle Jake would do.

Uncle Jake nodded, "I'll do what I can to help the Everafters with the Scarlet Hand but after that I'll leave. There's nothing here for me now but painful memories."

"But what about us?" Sabrina said, "What about your family?"

"You still have Mr. Canis. Even though he doesn't have the wolf in him anymore, he still won't let anything happen to you guys. And you have Mr. Seven and Charming, even though the prince is arrogant and will say otherwise, he'll make sure none of you get hurt."

Sabrina opened her mouth to speak but Uncle Jake shook his head, "No, 'Brina. Just drop it, okay? You may not understand, but I have to do this."

He gave her a quick hug and walked back to the others.

Sabrina stood there, staring up at the sky again, marveling at how many stars there were. She tried to imagine how it would feel if her parents, or Daphne died but she couldn't. It was like her mind kept trying to but her heart kept telling her that it would never happen.

Uncle Jake was right. She didn't understand.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

"Hey, ugly, wake up!"

Something squishy hit her face. Sabrina sat up quickly, punching the air around her. After seeing that nobody was attacking her, she felt her cheek, now covered in the juice of a rotten fruit.

Sabrina glared at Puck. The fairy boy was leaning against a tree, another rotten fruit in his hands, smirking at her.

"I told you I could wake her up." He said to Daphne, who was trying hard not to laugh.

"You're dead, Puck!" Sabrina growled.

Puck lifted an eyebrow, "Really? Usually you say that when I'm done throwing fruit at you."

Sabrina's gaze drifted down to the fruit in his hands, "You do it and I'm going to beat you to a pulp." She growled.

Puck snorted, "I'd like to see you try!" he said and threw the fruit at her. Sabrina ducked and covered her head as the fruit splattered against the tree behind her. She ran at the fairy but he just flew onto a tree branch, high above her head.

Sabrina shook her fist at him, "Cheater!" She yelled, "Why don't you come down and fight fair?!"

Puck just laughed, "I can't help it if you're a pathetic human!"

"Hey!" Daphne shouted, looking offended.

"Puck, stop messing with Sabrina. Sabrina, stop threatening to kill Puck." Uncle Jake said, walking towards them with a smile on his face, "Now, c'mon. We'd better start moving."

Uncle Jake unrolled the magic carpet and hopped on, quickly scooting over for Daphne, "Why don't you drive?" he asked.

Daphne grinned and hoped on, by now she was an expert on controlling the flying carpet.

Sabrina sat down beside her sister and Puck's giant insect wings popped out of his back, lifting him into the air.

Sabrina watched as his giant pink wings flapped in the sunlight, he grinned down at her and she forced a scowl onto her face, trying to ignore her fast beating heart. She looked away from Puck and saw Daphne smiling at her.

"What are you smiling about?" Sabrina asked.

"Oh, nothing." Daphne said, giggling, "Where are we going, Uncle Jake?"

"Just fly over the forest and then I'll tell you where to go." Uncle Jake said.

"Up." Daphne told the carpet and it shot up, swiftly avoiding branches.

"Look, you can see the town from here!" Daphne shouted, pointing her hand to Sabrina's left.

"What's left of it." Sabrina muttered. Smoke rolled into the sky from the numerous building that had been burned down by the fires the Scarlet Hand caused.

Puck flew down beside them, "I wonder what they're going to do when they burn the whole town down." He muttered.

"They'll probably burn down the forest too." Uncle Jake said, motioning Daphne to go to the left.

"What will Charming do if that happens?" Daphne asked, a worried expression on her face.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, Marshmallow! The ugly Sabrina Grimm will scare them off soon." Puck said, sneering.

Sabrina turned to him, a sharp retort on the tip of her tongue but it quickly flew out of her mind. Puck was flying sideways, his hands behind his back like he was lying on a couch, his face close to hers. Puck gave her a small smile, a smile that filled her stomach with butterflies.

"What's that?" Uncle Jake's voice broke the spell and Sabrina shook her head while Puck flew around to the other side of the carpet.

Sabrina looked to where her Uncle's hand was pointing and drew a quick breath. Two dark shapes were racing towards them, with a sound louder than thunder.

"Dragons!" She shouted as the dark shapes grew closer.

"Daphne, take us down!" Uncle Jake shouted, searching his pockets for something that could stop the dragons.

The dragons quickly reached the carpet and slowly started to circle it, one blasted fire underneath the carpet, stopping Daphne from bringing the carpet to the ground.

Each dragon was as long as two semi-trucks, with sharp teeth longer than Sabrina's arm. One dragon was covered in black scales, its red eyes looked at the group like a cat looks at a cornered mouse, but it was its companion that caught Sabrina's attention. The dragon's scales were dark blue. Its blue eyes, instead of being filled with malice like its companion, were filled with curiosity and while its companion flew in an aggressive way, the Blue Dragon flew with a certain grace.

"What, exactly," The Black Dragon growled, blasting the group with his hot breath, "Do you think you're doing flying into our territory?"

"We come in peace," Uncle Jake said, staring at the dragons with hate, "We just need something."

The Black Dragon snorted, "You hear that?" he said to his companion, "The human needs something! As if that's a shock! What do you need? More of our relatives and children to be your slaves? Why should we help you?"

"Because if you help us we can bring Briar Rose back!" Daphne said.

The Blue Dragon looked at them thoughtfully, "Briar Rose?" it said in a feminine voice, "Who's Briar Rose?"

"A friend of ours who died." Sabrina said.

"Don't worry; you'll soon be joining her!" The Black Dragon growled and opened his mouth.

Before he could blast the group with fire, Puck flew out of the sky and slammed his feet onto the dragon's snout. The Black Dragon roared with rage and lunged at Puck, but the fairy easily dodged.

"Wait!" The Blue Dragon yelled, "Maybe we should take them to the king."

"As soon as I kill this pesky, little fairy!" The dragon roared, trying in vain to catch Puck.

Sabrina felt her heart creep into her throat as she saw the rows of sharp teeth snapping at Puck. What if the dragon caught him?

"NO!" She shouted.

The Blue Dragon eyed her curiously, "Stop." She said, "Leave the fairy alone, the human is obviously attached to him."

Sabrina's face turned as red as a tomato, "No, no, no! It's not what you think." She sputtered but the dragon ignored her.

The Black Dragon turned to the blue one, spite filling his red eyes, "Is that an order, princess?" he sneered.

"Yes it is." The Blue Dragon said.

"I still think we should burn them to a crisp." The Black Dragon muttered, glaring at Puck as the fairy sat down on the carpet.

"The king can decide that." The Blue Dragon said, positioning herself behind the carpet.

"What should I do, Uncle Jake?" Daphne whispered.

"I guess just follow them." Uncle Jake said.

The Black Dragon, with one last glare at the group, flew in front of them, leading them around the mountain.

Sabrina stared down at the mountain below her. There wasn't much too see, just a bunch of trees, a river here and there and there was a giant, deep, jagged crack racing down the side of the mountain, as if someone had cut it with a knife.

The Black Dragon let out a loud roar that echoed in her ears. Sabrina looked up to see them flying into a cave on the side of the mountain. It looked like a giant mouth had opened there, waiting to swallow anything that was stupid enough to go in.

The Black Dragon disappeared into the cave and Daphne looked nervously at her uncle.

Uncle Jake nodded his head and Daphne steered the carpet into the cave.

Sabrina gasped as she looked around. She had expected it to be pitch black in the cave but it wasn't. The cave walls were covered with multi-colored rocks that gave off light. Sabrina stared around in amazement, the cave was huge! The cave's ceiling was so high that she couldn't see it and the cave was large enough to hold a hundred dragons but there were only five dragons and one baby in the cave. From all the empty nests around the cave, Sabrina guessed that there used to be a lot more than that.

The Black Dragon started making strange noises at the back of his throat. Uncle Jake whispered something to Daphne and the little girl brought the carpet down to the ground. Sabrina looked around and saw the other dragons lifting their heads, their gazes switching from the Black Dragon to the group on the carpet. Sabrina gasped when she saw the dragon the Black Dragon was talking too. It was much larger than all the other dragons and golden scales covered its body, shimmering in the rocks strange light.

_That must be the king, _Sabrina thought, warily eying the dragon.

The dragon lifted his head and eyed the group, boredom in his golden eyes.

"What is this?" The dragon's deep voice rumbled in the cave, filling every nook and cranny.

"The humans need something," The Blue Dragon said, dipping her head respectfully to the dragon.

The King Dragon eyed the group, "And what is it that you want?"

"We just need a drop of blood." Uncle Jake said his eyes filled with hate as he stared at the creatures that had killed Briar.

"Tell me, human," The King spat, "Why should we help you? How do we know that you, who eye us with such hate, would only stop at one drop of blood and not kill us all?"

"You have my word." Uncle Jake said.

The Golden Dragon burst out laughing, "Your word? As if that's reliable!" The King stopped laughing and his glare made Sabrina's blood freeze, "Look around you! There used to be many of us here in this cave! Living peacefully until you humans came and enslaved our children and twisted our warriors to do your will."

"But that wasn't us! That was the Scarlet Hand!" Sabrina shouted.

The Dragon King's eyes bored into her, "That just proves that humans and Everafters are evil, twisted, liars and deserve to die!"

"Father, wait!" The Blue Dragon shouted, "Please, give them a chance! You heard them; they're not the same people who enslave our kind!"

The King Dragon stared at his daughter for a few seconds and Sabrina was afraid he would just ignore her but then he turned his head back to the group, "Fine, I'll give you humans a chance. If you can convince me to give you a drop of blood in the next five seconds I'll spare you, if not I'll burn you to a crisp."

"Listen!" Uncle Jake shouted, "The Scarlet Hand enslaved the dragons! We have nothing to do with them! In fact we're trying to stop them!"

"Are you saying that if you bring back this friend of yours the Scarlet Hand will be destroyed and our families will be freed?" The King said skeptically.

Uncle Jake paused but that was all it took.

The Golden Dragon lifted his mighty head and glared at the group, "You have failed to convince me that you are different than all the other humans and so, I will kill you one by one. Starting with this one."

The dragon turned his head to Sabrina. Sabrina's heat leaped into her throat as the dragon opened its huge mouth. She found herself staring into the giant mouth and she could already see the fire coming up his throat, the heat was enough to make sweat break out on her forehead. Sabrina squeezed her eyes shut as the dragon took a deep breath, ready to burn her to a crisp.


	5. AN

**I AM SOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!! The reason I haven't updated in a while is because my computer broke down ( I'm doing this from a friends computer). It won't even turn on now!!! UGH!!! So, it might be a while before I can continue . . . I'm really, really, sorry!!!!! =s **

**Really short authors note, I know, but I'm in a hurry!!!!!!!!!**

**Once again, I'm really sorry!!!!! =(**


	6. The Devil's Drop

**A/N- The computer is fixed!! It doesn't even randomly shut down anymore! YAY!!!!**

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks for being patient and sorry it took so long!**

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Sabrina could hear Uncle Jake and Daphne screaming for the King Dragon to wait but it was too late, the fire was already flying out of the dragon's mouth. But, with her eyes closed, Sabrina didn't see Puck's wings pop out of his back. The fairy jumped towards Sabrina but the Black Dragon, who had kept hate filled eyes locked on the fairy the moment he stepped into the cave, lashed out with his tail, catching Puck in the chest and pinning him against the cave's wall.

Sabrina also didn't see the long, blue tail as it wrapped around her waist and yanked her up just as a blast of fire scorched the ground where she had just been standing moments ago.

Sabrina opened her eyes, wondering why she wasn't a pile of ash already, and gasped when she saw the Blue Dragon's tail around her and her feet dangling high above the cave's floor.

An angry growl rumbled from the Golden Dragon, "Put the human down."

"No." The Blue Dragon said, her blue eyes flashing defiantly.

"What?" The Golden Dragon said, shock filling his voice.

The Blue Dragon lifted her head, "If you will not give these humans a drop of blood then I will." Though she spoke softly her words seemed to ring around the cave as if she had yelled them.

A heavy silence filled the cave as the Golden Dragon stared at his daughter, wondering if she had really just defied him.

"What?! Why?!" The Black Dragon said, looking at her like she had just stabbed him in the back, "These are humans! Have you forgotten what they did to us? They took our families and enslaved them!"

"They are not the same humans who did that!" The Blue Dragon said, "You heard them say that themselves!"

"They're HUMANS!" The King Dragon bellowed, "They're liars, cheaters, thieves, backstabbers, and slave drivers! You can't trust anything they say!" The King's golden eyes filled with sorrow, "You of all dragons should know that."

In a flash, the sorrow was replaced with anger, "Now, put the human down or I'll just burn the rest of them." He said as his giant head swung towards Uncle Jake and Daphne.

The Blue Dragon quickly set Sabrina down on the ground beside Uncle Jake and Daphne, then she stood in front of them, blocking them from the King Dragon, "You have to go through me first."

Tension crackled in the air as the King Dragon glared down at his daughter, then he threw his head back and roared so loud that Daphne covered her ears with her hands.

"Do you not see?" The Blue Dragon yelled, "These are not the same humans that took our families!" She said, "They didn't take any of us! How can you be so blind? They even said they were trying to stop this Scarlet Hand. Just because some humans are evil doesn't mean that they all are. You of all dragons should know that."

"Are you saying that if we help these humans bring their friend back they can defeat the Scarlet Hand and bring our families back?" The Golden Dragon asked, skeptically.  
The Blue Dragon looked at Uncle Jake.

"Uh . . . not exactly. . ." Uncle Jake stammered.

"YOU SEE!" The Black Dragon roared, "They're using us! Just like every other human!"

"WAIT!" Uncle Jake yelled, "I promise that if you help us, I will do everything I can to bring your families back." Uncle Jake looked at the Golden Dragon, "Please. I know a human's promise doesn't mean anything to you but . . . you're just going to have to trust me."

The Golden Dragon stared at Uncle Jake for a while and Sabrina took a deep breath, sure that the dragon was going to burn them all but he did something that shocked her.

A deep rumbling sound came from deep in the dragon's chest and it took Sabrina a while to realize that he was chuckling.

"You're right. A human's promise means nothing." The King Dragon stopped laughing and stared at Uncle Jake, his voice turning soft, "Who is this friend you are trying to bring back?"

"Briar Rose," Uncle Jake said, his eyes lowering to the ground.

The King Dragon's golden eyes stared at Sabrina's uncle a moment longer and then he nodded his head, "I see you feel the same grief that many of us feel and so I will trust you. But," The Golden Dragon looked at Uncle Jake, his golden eyes hardening, "If you do not fulfill your promise then I will hunt you down and burn you."

Suddenly, without warning, the Golden Dragon rolled onto his back, revealing the softer scales of his underbelly.

"Make it quick." He said.

Uncle Jake stood frozen as if he couldn't believe this was actually happening. The Blue Dragon gently nudged him with her tail and he started to move.

Uncle Jake pulled a knife and the potion bottle out of his pocket as he slowly walked towards the Golden Dragon, well aware of the eyes of every dragon staring at him, ready to kill him if he made a wrong move.

Uncle Jake slid his knife underneath one of the King Dragon's scales, making a cut just big enough for one drop of crimson red blood to slide out. He pressed the bottle against the dragon's scales and watched as it slowly slid into the bottle, joining the fairy fire.

Uncle Jake stared at the bottle for a moment and then the King Dragon spoke.

"Well now, that wasn't bad at all." The Golden Dragon eyed Uncle Jake, "I suggest you move."

Uncle Jake jumped back, barely avoiding being squashed by the giant dragon as he rolled back onto his feet.

"Thank you so much." Uncle Jake said.

"YES! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!" Daphne squealed, running over and hugging the dragon's claw, "You're much-o cool-o!"

The King Dragon stared down at the little girl then he threw his head back and laughed, "No, thank you." He said, "For showing me that, even though some are, not all humans are bloodthirsty monsters and that there is still hope in this world." The dragon's golden eyes twinkled as he stared at his daughter, "Sometimes it takes humans and a very stubborn daughter, to help me see that I'm wrong. Now, you must be tired after your long journey, so, I insist that you stay here for the night."

"We'd be happy too." Uncle Jake said, grinning nervously. Even though the dragons weren't looking at them with hostility anymore, Sabrina still felt nervous around them. But she would rather sleep in a cave full of dragons than out in the forest with demons roaming around.

"The humans are now our guests and we will treat them like guests!" The Golden Dragon announced, "And that includes the fairy." The dragon looked pointedly at the Black Dragon, who seemed to enjoy smashing Puck against the wall.

The Black Dragon sighed in disappointment and brought his tail to his side, freeing Puck. The fairy walked over to Sabrina and stuck his tongue out at the Black Dragon.

Another chuckle came from the Golden Dragon as he stared down at Daphne, who was still hugging his claw, "You may let go now." He said.

Daphne grinned up at him, "I knew you weren't an evil dragon!" She said, giving his claw a big kiss before running back to Sabrina.

The King Dragon laughed again as he sat up. Sabrina saw a bright blue scale on the Golden Dragon's chest, standing out against all the other golden ones. She frowned at it, wondering why that was there.

"I like her." Daphne said and Sabrina turned to see her little sister staring at the Blue Dragon, "She's nice and pretty."

"And stubborn." Sabrina added.

"Just like you." Puck said, grinning at Sabrina, "I'm going to go get a dragon scale!" He announced, walking away from the girls.

Sabrina glared after the fairy and turned to see Daphne grinning at her, "What?"

"He just called you pretty! Stubborn but pretty!" Daphne said, excitedly.

Sabrina felt her face heat up, "No he didn't!"

Daphne's grin just widened as the Blue Dragon walked over, "Hey!"

The Blue Dragon dipped her head in greeting, "Hello."

"Thanks a lot for saving us." Sabrina said, "I owe you one."

The Blue Dragon smiled, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth, "No problem. I was wondering if . . ."

She stopped talking when the Black Dragon walked up. He stared suspiciously at Sabrina and Daphne and then looked at the Blue Dragon, "Can I talk with you?"

The Blue Dragon nodded her head, "I'll be right back." She said to Sabrina and Daphne before walking off with the Black Dragon.

A loud roar filled the cave. Puck ran over to the girls and hid behind Sabrina.

"SHE DID IT!" He yelled, pointing an accusing finger at Sabrina.

"What?! No I didn't!" Sabrina said, "What did you do?"

"Sabrina, you tried to take rip a scale off of that poor dragon over there while he was sleeping." Puck said, pointing to an emerald green dragon who was glaring at her.

"What?! No, I didn't!" Sabrina shouted.

The green dragon stared at them for a while and then snorted, two puffs of smoke coming out of its giant nostrils. Sabrina felt her heart stop when the dragon yawned, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth, and sighed in relief when the dragon curled up and went back to sleep.

Sabrina spun around and faced Puck, "What were you thinking? We could have been fried!"

Puck shrugged, "But we weren't and look," he said, excitedly holding up a green scale the size of his hand, "I got a scale!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and turned when Daphne poked her frantically on the back, "What?" she said.

Daphne pointed to a small dragon who was staring shyly at them.

"Is . . . is it true that you shot _water _out of your mouths?" The small dragon asked, his eyes widening with curiosity.

"Yeah, it's called spit." Puck said, spiting a big glob of spit onto the ground beside the dragon's claw.

"But doesn't that hurt?" The little dragon asked.

"No." Daphne said, smiling at the little dragon.

The dragon opened his mouth but stopped when a light purple dragon called for him. He looked at the group like they were aliens and then ran off to his mother.

A deep chuckling sound came from behind them and Sabrina turned to see the Blue Dragon standing behind her.

"I'm sorry about that; we just had to . . . discuss some things." The Blue Dragon said.

Sabrina looked past the giant blue dragon and saw the Black Dragon sitting a few paces away, his black eyes filled with suspicion as he looked at her.

"Just ignore him," The Blue Dragon whispered, her blue eyes flickering with annoyance, "I was wondering if you would like to fly with me," curiosity sparked in her blue eyes, "and, maybe, you could tell me about your kind?"

"These two can't fly." Puck said, "And why would you want to learn more about _them_?"

"They can fly on my back." The Blue Dragon said, "If they would like to."

"YES!" Daphne squealed before Sabrina could even open her mouth.

"Daphne," Sabrina hissed, "I don't think that's a good idea." Just a second ago the dragons had been prepared to burn them to a crisp and now her little sister wanted to ride one? "It could be dangerous."

"Oh no, I assure you that you would be very safe." The Blue Dragon said, causing Sabrina to nearly jump out of her skin.

"Ya, it would be safe!" Daphne said, "And you know it's been my long life dream to ride on a dragon! It was right up there with owning a pony until _someone _ruined that!" Daphne glared at Puck, who just shrugged at her.

Sabrina looked around the cave and spotted Uncle Jake talking to the King Dragon. Her uncle smiled and waved at her.

"Sure, we'll go." Sabrina said.

The Blue Dragon smiled and bent down so that her belly was flat on the ground so Sabrina and Daphne could climb on. Even with the dragon flat on the ground it was hard for Sabrina and Daphne to climb onto her back.

As soon as the two sisters were sitting on the dragon's long neck, just in front of her powerful wings, Puck flew up and sat down behind Sabrina.

"What?" he said what she looked at him, "Someone has to make sure you don't die."

Sabrina opened her mouth to say something when she felt muscle clench underneath the slippery blue scales she sat on. Before she could grab onto anything, the Blue Dragon shot like an arrow out of the cave.

Sabrina jerked back against Puck as the wind slammed into her face, forcing tears out of her eyes. She blushed when she realized that Puck had wrapped his arms around her waist in an attempt to keep himself from falling off. She scowled, trying to ignore the fact that her heart was beating faster than usual and that she kind of liked leaning against him. She leaned forward, away from Puck, the wind whipping her hair out behind her. Sabrina heard a cry from behind her and turned her head to see Puck trying to shield himself from her hair and still stay on the dragon's neck at the same time.

"Ugh! Hair!" He said, "It's like a million tiny whips!"

"Really? Well then, take that!" Sabrina said, flipping her hair behind her head. She looked down and gasped at the sight of the forest racing by below them. Ahead of them she saw the river, the sun shining on the water and making it sparkle. She would have been even more delighted with the view if she wasn't afraid that they might fall off. Then her gaze landed on the town of Ferryport Landing and she remembered that the rest of her family was somewhere out in the forest. Sabrina felt shame fill her. Her family might be fighting for their lives against the Scarlet Hand and here she was, riding a dragon and grinning her head off!

Daphne was sitting just a few inches in front of Sabrina, laughing, "That was so gravy!" she said, "Can we do it again?"

"Uh, guys, we have a visitor." Puck said.

Sabrina looked over her shoulder just in time to see the Black Dragon fly out of the cave. He stayed a few feet away from them but he kept watchful eyes locked onto the group.

The Blue Dragon sighed, "I'm really sorry about him. He's usually not so . . . so . . . annoying. He can be really sweet at times."

Sabrina snorted. She couldn't see the Black Dragon being sweet.

"Why doesn't he like us?" Daphne asked.

The Blue Dragon sighed again, "Well, the day the humans, or the Scarlet Hand as you call them, came, he, my father and I were out hunting. By the time we got back the humans had already taken most of our tribe." The Blue Dragon's voice was filled with sorrow and pain, "Those who were left were either too young or too wounded to be of use. His father was among the dragons that were taken by the Scarlet Hand."

"They took his dad?" Daphne asked sympathy in her voice.

Sabrina couldn't help but feel sorry for the Black Dragon. She knew what it was like to lose a parent.

"Well," The Blue Dragon spoke hesitantly, choosing her words carefully, "You see, our tribe have always had our different opinions. One of the main ones is how to deal with the humans. Some of us think that we should try to make peace with the humans and become friends with them. Others think that we should just ignore the humans and then they would ignore us." The Blue Dragon paused for a moment, "Others thought that we should attack the humans before they attack us. His father was one of the dragons who thought that we should kill all the humans.

You see, some dragons get . . . excited by the prospect of hurting other creatures and so I think that some dragons might have gone willingly with the Scarlet Hand."

"So, you're saying that his dad went with the Scarlet Hand because he wanted to?" Daphne asked, shocked.

"He might have." The Blue Dragon said quickly, "I just hope he's still alive."

"What did he look like?" Daphne asked, "We might have seen him."

The Blue Dragon turned her head to look at the little girl, her blue eyes filled with hope, "He had purple scales! Have you seen him?"

Daphne's face paled and she bit her lip and looked anxiously at Sabrina.

A purple dragon.

The dragon that had killed Briar Rose had been purple.

That was the same dragon that Uncle Jake had killed.

Sabrina could remember the eagerness in the dragon's eyes when he had looked at her, ready to fry her. He hadn't seemed to be under the Scarlet Hand's control. But she couldn't tell the Blue Dragon that.

"No," Sabrina said quietly, "We haven't seen him."

She felt a sharp pang in her chest as the hope left the Blue Dragon's eyes, "Oh. Well, he could still be okay. Maybe he's trying to escape." The Blue Dragon said.

Daphne looked at Sabrina with a guilty expression.

"But you must not tell him what I told you," The Blue Dragon said, her tail flicking to the Black Dragon, "Especially about how his dad might have gone willingly with the Scarlet Hand. I don't want him to get hurt."

"Don't worry, we won't tell." Sabrina said.

Daphne squealed, "Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?"

The Blue Dragon looked at the little girl, a confused look on her face, "What is this boyfriend and girlfriend that you speak of?"

"Do you like like him?" Daphne asked.

Sabrina could have sworn that the Blue Dragon blushed, "Yes."

Daphne squealed again, "Have you two kissed?"

"Kissed?" The Blue Dragon asked, "What is that?"

"Well . . ." Daphne said, her face twisted up in thought as she tried to think of a way to explain it, "Well . . ." She looked at Sabrina for help.

"When a boy and a girl like each other, they kiss," She frowned, "They . . . touch lips with each other."

The Blue Dragon looked at them for a while and then shook her head, "You humans have weird ways."

"What do dragons do when they like each other?" Daphne asked.

"When a male dragon loves a female dragon he gives her one of his scales and then she gives him one of her scales. They place each others scales close to their hearts to symbolize that they will always be there for each other." The Blue Dragon said, looking at Sabrina and Puck, "Have you two done this kissing?"

Sabrina's face turned as red as a tomato, "NO!" She screamed.

The Blue Dragon looked confused, "But you said humans do that when they love each other."

"I don't love her!" Puck yelled, "Just look at her! She's even uglier than a troll!"

"You'd better shut up or I'm going to knock all your teeth out!" Sabrina snapped.

"Do humans usually threaten each other when they are in love?" The Blue Dragon asked Daphne.

"I DON'T LOVE HIM!" Sabrina yelled.

Suddenly the Blue Dragon brought her wings to her sides and nose dived towards the ground. Sabrina felt a scream bubble up inside of her as she saw the earth rushing up to meet them.

Just before they hit the trees, the dragon's wings snapped out and she glided above the tree tops before landing beside a stream.

As soon as the dragon landed on solid ground, Sabrina slid off of her neck and collapsed onto the ground. Daphne slid down after her sister. The little girl's pigtails were standing straight up, "That. Was. So. _Gravy!" _

"No it wasn't!" Sabrina said.

"Oh, I'm sorry if that frightened you." The Blue Dragon said.

"Pssh, forget about her. She's just a baby," Puck said, jumping off the dragon, "We have to do that again!"

"No. It didn't scare me," Sabrina said, glaring at Puck, "It's just that a little warning would be nice next time."

"She was so scared! You should have seen her face!" Puck twisted his face up, imitating Sabrina. He looked like he had to go to the bathroom.

"YOU'D BETTER RUN, STINK BABY!" Sabrina yelled, running at the fairy with clenched fists.

Puck turned and ran into the forest as an angry Sabrina ran after him. When she almost caught him, his giant wings popped out and he flew to the safety of a tree.

"Why don't you come down here and fight fair?!" Sabrina shouted, shaking her fists up at him, "Or are you too scared that I'd beat your butt?"

Puck snorted, "Like you, a peasant, could beat me!"

"Well, if you're so sure of yourself then why don't you come down?" Sabrina said.

Puck sneered down at her, "Fine!" He said, jumping down from the tree. As soon as his feet hit the ground Sabrina tackled him. They rolled around on the ground a while before Sabrina pinned him down.

She smirked down at him, "Now, what did you say up in the tree? That you could beat me?"

Puck glared up at her, "It's not over yet!" he said. He arched his back, knocking Sabrina off of him and before she could get up, he had her pinned to the ground.

"Ha!" He said, smirking down at her but slowly the smirk faded as he stared down at her. He couldn't help but think about how pretty she was, with her long blond hair splayed all around her and her blue eyes. Those eyes were the problem. He could never look at them without losing his train of thought. All he could think about was how he could stare into her eyes for forever.

Sabrina stared up at him, her heart beating faster and faster. Why did he have to be so cute? Why did his emerald green eyes always have to make her heart stop and her cheeks flush? How come she couldn't look away from him? Why didn't she push him off of her instead of staring at him, with his golden hair and green eyes?

Slowly, Puck leaned down to where his lips were inches from hers. A second passed, a fairy flew by, completely ignoring the two pre-teens on the ground with their lips almost touching, and then Sabrina leaned forward and kissed Puck.

Not a second after their lips touched, Sabrina heard a whisper coming from a bush.

"So, this is the kissing that you were talking about?"

In a flash Puck had jumped off of Sabrina and the two of them were standing as far away as possible from each other.

"Daphne!" Sabrina hissed. The little girl was standing beside the Blue Dragon, her palm in her mouth, "What are you doing?"

"We were drinking some water and then we noticed you two were gone so we decided to look for you and you two were," Daphne squealed, "I knew you two liked each other! I knew it!"

Sabrina's face felt like it was on fire, "How many times do I have to tell you?! I don't like him!"

"And I don't like her!" Puck said, his face bright red.

"I am confused." The Blue Dragon said, "But you two were doing the kissing and you said that when two humans like each other they touch lips."

"WE WEREN'T KISSING!" Puck yelled.

"You know, they're getting married in the future," Daphne said to the Blue Dragon, "You can come to the wedding!"

That did it. Sabrina could feel anger boiling up inside of her. On top of catching Sabrina and Puck kissing, Daphne was now telling a dragon, one they hardly knew, that Sabrina and Puck were married in the future!

"WE WEREN'T KISSING!" She yelled, "I don't like him! I don't even see how we got married! How I even live with that smelly, annoying, stupid fairy is beyond me! I don't see how I could possible live the rest of my life with him without going insane!"

A heavy silence filled the forest. The only sounds were the distant chirping of birds and the whooshing noise of the Black Dragon's wings as he flew around in circles above them.

Puck's face was bright red, but instead of being embarrassed, he was mad. Really, really, really, mad.

"Oh, really?" He growled, his green eyes sparking with anger, "Well, then you don't have to worry anymore! Now that I know we're getting married in the future, I'll make sure it'll never happen, since it bothers you that much!"

Without another word, his wings snapped out of his back and he shot into the sky.

Sabrina stared after him, wishing that she could take back everything she had just said. She turned around to see Daphne glaring at her and the Blue Dragon looking extremely confused.

"Do humans normally act like this?" The dragon asked.

"Sometimes. Some people just don't see it when they like another person." Daphne said, her glare burning into Sabrina.

Sabrina ignored her. She didn't feel like talking and she was still angry with the little girl.

"Some dragons are like that too." The Blue Dragon said softly, her blue eyes drifting up to the Black Dragon, who was still flying overhead, "Shall we go? The sun is getting low."

Without a word, Sabrina and Daphne crawled back onto the dragon's neck. All the way back to the cave Sabrina didn't say a word. She barely heard a word of the conversation that Daphne and the Blue Dragon were having. She was too busy trying to get her emotions under control. She felt guilty about how she had yelled at Puck but then her guilt went away. Puck was jerk! Why should she feel guilty about hurting him when everyday he threw insults at her and played pranks on her? He deserved what she had said! But that thought only made her feel even guiltier.

She was still angry with Daphne, even though when she thought about it, the little girl hadn't done it one purpose. She had only been looking for Sabrina and Puck.

When the Blue Dragon reached the cave, Daphne ran off to Uncle Jake, talking excitedly about riding on the dragon.

Sabrina looked around the cave for Puck. She didn't see him anywhere. She didn't know if she should feel relived that he wasn't there or sad.

She sighed and, not feeling like talking to anyone, she sat in the cave's entrance, watching the sun as it slowly sunk to the horizon.

"Let me guess, Puck problems?" The voice brought Sabrina out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Uncle Jake standing beside her.

Sabrina nodded as he sat down, "How did you know?"

Uncle Jake winked at her, "I'm an expert on those things. Do you want to tell me what happened?"

Sabrina sighed, "We just got in a fight." She prepared herself for a lecture about how she had better control her temper or it was going to get her in trouble.

But Uncle Jake just nodded his head and stared out at the sky.

After a while he sighed, "I'm not one to give good advice, you should know that by now," He said, never taking his eyes off of the sky, "But there's one thing I can tell you. Be careful about what you say to people, especially the ones you love, 'cause you never know if they're going to be alive in time for you to say you're sorry."

Sabrina looked at her uncle but he was still staring at the sky, grief clouding his eyes. She reached out and squeezed his hand.

"You know, the Scarlet Hand's army took the King Dragon's wife," Uncle Jake said.

Sabrina stared at the sky, her eyes widening. She hadn't known that the Golden Dragon had been married. Then she remembered the blue scale that had been on the King Dragon's chest. The Blue Dragon had said that dragon's give each other a scale when they love each other; kind of like how humans wear rings when they get married.

Married. Puck.

The fairy still wasn't back yet.

Uncle Jake looked at her and smiled. He opened his mouth to say something but stopped when a sound erupted from the forest.

A scream.

Sabrina and Uncle Jake looked at each other in alarm as another scream filled the air.

"HELP! HELP! HELP ME!" A woman's voice screamed. It sounded like she was right below them.

In a second, Uncle Jake was sliding down the small hill and towards the line of trees that surrounded it. Sabrina ran after him, trying to keep up without falling flat on her face.

They ran into the trees and soon came to a small clearing. Lying down in the middle of the clearing was a woman. Twigs stuck out of her long red-gold hair and her eyes looked at them pleadingly.

"Please, you have to help me! You have to save me from the trolls! Please!" Her voice was velvety and something about it made Sabrina want to do anything the woman wanted her to do.

"I don't see any trolls." Uncle Jake said. His eyes were glued onto the woman like she was some kind of Greek goddess.

The woman slowly got to her feet, "You must have scared them off." She said, staring at them gratefully. She held out her hand, "My name's Jezebel."

"I'm Jake and this is Sabrina." Uncle Jake said, staring her hand for a while and then shaking it quickly.

"I'm very thankful that you two came. If you haven't, who knew what would have happened." Jezebel said softly, staring at Uncle Jake with interest, "But now I'm a long way away from my home. Maybe you could escort me back?"

Uncle Jake blinked and shoved his hand into one of his pockets. Sabrina was sure that he was holding the rose from Briar's grave.

"Actually, I can't take you back but there's a dragon's cave right up there, you could stay there for the night." He said.

Sabrina wasn't sure if it was the dimming light or not but Jezebel looked peeved.

"Really? Dragons?" Jezebel said, her voice taking on a hypnotic tone, "I'd rather sleep outside with the trolls than in a dragon's cave. Dragons are known for tricking people. They gain your trust with lies and then, when you least expect it, they kill you. They burn you as slowly as possible and listen to your screams with smiles on their scaly faces."

That velvety voice seemed to block everything out. Sabrina couldn't hear anything but that voice. Telling her to trust it and go to it. It fogged her mind and muddled her thoughts, making it hard to think. But she didn't have to think anymore, all she had to do was listen.

"Don't trust them," Jezebel was saying, holding out a hand invitingly, "Trust me. Come with me. You'll be safe. The dragons won't follow you. That's right, come to me."

Sabrina slowly walked towards Jezebel. She didn't notice the sinister look in the woman's eyes, the smirk on her face. She didn't notice how her voice seemed to take a more sinister tone, still hypnotic but promising death and pain instead of safety. She didn't notice how when Jezebel smiled she had fangs. All she could do was walk towards Jezebel, as if under a spell.

A loud roar filled the air and a blast of fire flew down from the sky, aiming right for Jezebel. The woman jumped back with a hiss just in time to avoid being fried.

Sabrina shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _What was going on?_

She looked up to see the Blue Dragon flying around above the clearing, the Black Dragon right behind her. The little clearing Sabrina, Uncle Jake and Jezebel were standing in was two small for the dragons to land without knocking down half of the trees.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" The Blue Dragon yelled, "GET AWAY NOW!"

"What?" Sabrina asked, frowning. Why couldn't she think straight? She felt like she had just woken up from a deep sleep.

"Don't listen to them!" Jezebel cried, "They lie!" But the Black Dragon was already talking.

"One of the many skills dragons' have is the ability to see through illusions and tricks. That _thing _in front of you isn't a human! She's a demon! Look at her and see for yourself!" The Black Dragon roared.

Sabrina turned her head and gasped in horror. To avoid being blasted by fire Jezebel had jumped underneath a tree and its shadows covered her, revealing her true self.

A long, spiked tongue flickered out between scaly lips and red eyes glared at her as Jezebel lifted a clawed hand, "Don't listen to them," The soothing voice sounded strange coming out of the demon, "They lie! They're trying to trick you! I'm not a demon! It's an illusion!"

Sabrina slowly found herself relaxing as the voice reached her and she saw Uncle Jake relaxing too. A heavy fog settled in her mind, blocking out her common sense that was screaming at her to run.

"Don't listen to her!" The Blue Dragon called, "It's a spell! Fight it! Think of family and loved ones! FIGHT IT!"

The dragon's roar yanked Sabrina out of the demon's spell and she took a step away from the demon.

"Don't listen to them! Don't trust them! Trust me!" Jezebel said.

Sabrina willed herself to ignore the voice. Beside her she heard Uncle Jake muttering, "Briar Rose, Briar Rose, Briar Rose," under his breath as he slowly walked away from the demon and towards the hill and the dragons' cave.

"C'mon 'Brina!" He said, urgently

Jezebel hissed, "Come here, you little brat!" She lunged for Sabrina but jerked back as the Blue Dragon shot another blast of fire. The grass and trees caught on fire, making it impossible for the demon to get to Sabrina.

Sabrina froze, horror making it hard for her to breath. Through the flames she saw two red eyes staring at her with such hate that it made her knees go weak.

Jezebel got as close to the fire as she possible could and the sight of the demon's face made Sabrina feel nauseous. The light from the flickering flames caused the demon's face to constantly change from the fake, human Jezebel and the real demon one.

"I will catch you and your friends, girl," Jezebel hissed, her voice dripping with hatred, "And I will enjoy watching you wither in agony as you die, I swear it!"

Sabrina stood rooted to the ground, staring at the demon. She couldn't move. The fire was starting to die down and the dragons were yelling at her but she couldn't move.

"SABRINA!"

The voice caused Sabrina to blink as hands grabbed her arms and lifted her into the air. She heard the sound of wings flapping furiously and looked up to see her savior.

"Puck?" She said in surprise.

"Who did you expect? Santa Claus? Of course it's me!" Puck said, his wings flapping as he flew her up to the cave, "I can't leave you alone for five seconds without you almost being killed by a demon!"

An angry screech filled the air as Jezebel watched her prey disappear into the cave. She stepped back into the shadows, glaring at the dragons who were still flying overheard, "I'll be back." She hissed and then she was gone.

Puck flew into the cave after Uncle Jake and set Sabrina on the ground. He looked her up and down, "Are you okay?" He asked, worriedly.

"I'm . . . fine." Sabrina said, even though she wasn't. She was still a bit fuzzy from the demon's spell.

Puck glared at her, "Not that I care." He muttered, turning away from her.

Sabrina glared after him. Did he really have to be such a baby?

Daphne ran over to her and hugged her, "Are you okay?" She asked her older sister, her eyes wide with worry and fear.

"I'm fine, Daphne." Sabrina said as the Blue Dragon and the Black Dragon flew into the cave. The two dragons went straight to the King Dragon and started to talk to him.

Sabrina watched as shock and then outrage flashed in the dragon's golden eyes.

He lifted his giant head and roared. All the noise in the cave stopped as everyone looked at him.

"A demon has approached our home," The Golden Dragon bellowed, "And attacked our guests! It wasn't just a normal demon but the queen herself!"

Gasps of surprise, fear and outrage rang across the cave.

"Why?" One dragon yelled.

The Golden Dragon looked at Uncle Jake. Uncle Jake stepped forward, "Yesterday we went to their castle to check it out. Like with the dragon blood, the potion asks for a demon's poison. We were hoping to get some then but we were attacked. We managed to escape and I don't think the queen is very happy about that. Look," he said, turning to the King Dragon, "I thank you for your hospitality but we should leave before they come back."

The Golden Dragon's eyes flashed with anger, "Never! You are our guests and no demon is going to run you out while you're in our home! Don't worry, we'll protect you," he said, his golden eyes staring at the other dragons as if challenging them to object.

Uncle Jake thanked the dragon and stepped back, knowing that it was useless to argue.

The King Dragon called together the rest of the dragons and they formed a tight circle, discussing what they should do in whispers.

The Blue Dragon walked over to Sabrina, Daphne, Uncle Jake and Puck, "You should get some sleep," She said softly, "And don't worry about the demons. We'll deal with them."

"Thanks again." Uncle Jake said. The Blue Dragon nodded her head and joined the rest of the dragons.

"C'mon, there's no use standing around," Uncle Jake said, "We might as well sleep."

Uncle Jake rolled out the magic carpet, trying to make the hard cave ground softer. They all lied down on it, trying to get comfortable. Daphne settled down beside Sabrina and soon Sabrina heard Daphne's soft snores but no matter how hard she tried, the older girl couldn't sleep.

Something was bothering her. The more she thought about it the more she realized that it was when she was had been staring at Jezebel. It was that feeling of helplessness when she had stared at the demon through the wall of flames, unable to move. It had been okay when she had been under the demon's spell, then she had an excuse for not thinking straight but that time she hadn't been under the demon's spell. All she had been able to do was stare at the demon's hate filled eyes with jellylike legs, unable to do anything. She had felt like some trapped princess waiting for the prince to save her and she hated it! She hated feeling that way! Normally, she prided herself on her toughness, her ability to think quickly in bad situations. But not that time. She had been completely helpless that time.

Sabrina looked over at her little sister sleeping peacefully beside her. How was she supposed to protect Daphne if she couldn't even protect herself?

Sabrina stared up at the dark void above her, the dragons' voices hardly reaching her ears, determination filling her. Next time, she was sure there was going to be a next time, she'd be ready. Next time she won't be helpless. Next time she'll be able to protect herself and everyone else.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

_Sabrina ran down the hall of her house, she could see Puck as he ran around a corner._

"_PUCK!" She yelled. She had to tell him something, she didn't know what. All she knew was that it was important._

"_PUCK WAIT!" She yelled as she rounded the corner. Sabrina stopped running and frowned. The fairy was no where to be seen._

"_Puck?" She said, slowly walking down the hallway. Sabrina smiled in triumph when she saw a door at the end of the hallway that was opened a crack._

"_Gotcha." She said. She threw the door open and screamed._

_On the floor were Granny Relda, Daphne, Uncle Jake, Red and Mr. Canis. Even before she touched them she knew they were dead._

"_No, no, no!" She said, tears filling her eyes as she stared down at her family. She looked up to see Puck standing a few feet away from her, his back to her._

"_Puck! What happened?" She said, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to face her._

_Sabrina screamed in horror and took a step back. Puck took a step towards her. He looked normal except that his green eyes were replaced with blood red ones; the eyes of a demon._

"_Come here, girl," He said, his voice replaced with Jezebel's, "Come here, Sabrina."_

_Sabrina turned around and ran down the hallway, heading towards the stairs. But no matter how fast she ran, they never came any closer. Behind her, she heard Jezebel calling for her._

"_Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina!"_

Sabrina woke up with a start, cold sweat covering her. She sat up so quickly that she nearly hit Daphne. It was pitch black outside the cave but the multi-colored rocks that were attached to the cave's wall gave off enough light for her to see her sister.

"Sabrina! Are you okay? You were screaming!" Daphne said, staring worriedly at her sister.

"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." Sabrina said, shivering.

"What?" She asked. Daphne was staring at her, a giant grin on her face.

"You dream about Puck." Daphne said, her grin widening.

"I do not!" Sabrina said, her cheeks reddening.

"Sure, it was just some other Puck whose name you were muttering in your sleep," Daphne said, winking at her, "Don't worry, I won't tell him."

Sabrina grinned and shook her head.

The two sisters were silent for a while. The only sounds in the cave were the soft snores of the dragons and the swishing noise of the guard dragon's tail as he swept it across the floor.

"Sabrina?' Daphne asked, breaking the silence, "Do you think the potion will work?"

Sabrina sighed. The truth was, even though she hoped with all her heart that it would, she didn't think that the potion would work but she couldn't tell Daphne that. The little girl would be crushed.

"I hope so." Sabrina whispered.

"Me too." Daphne said.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

The next time Sabrina was woken up, it was close to sunrise and the cave was in chaos.

Sabrina sat up quickly and looked around, wondering what was going on. Shrieks and roars could be heard from outside the cave and the little dragon was crying. Daphne was sitting up beside her, her face pale and her eyes wide with fear and Puck was standing up, his wooden sword in his hand. Uncle Jake leaped to his feet as the Blue Dragon approached them.

"What's going on?" Sabrina asked.

"The demons have come." The Blue Dragon said as she got onto her belly beside them.

"What?" Uncle Jake said in surprise.

"Hurry, you must hop on!" The Blue Dragon said, "I'm going to fly you outside of the cave and out of danger but you must hurry!"

They quickly hopped onto the Blue Dragon but before they could leave the Golden Dragon walked towards them.

"Look, I'm sorry . . ." Uncle Jake started but the King Dragon cut him off.

"Do not worry about us," He said, "Dragons don't die easily. Just remember your promise." The Golden Dragon looked Uncle Jake straight in the eye, "Bring my wife back."

Uncle Jake nodded and then the Blue Dragon shot out of the cave.

As soon as they were out of the cave, the sounds of battle reached their ears. Shrieks of pain and rage filled the air. Everywhere she looked, Sabrina saw demons and dragons fighting. The King Dragon was right, dragons don't die easily but there were a lot more demons than there were dragons. Sabrina saw one dragon trying to fight off five demons.

One demon spotted them flying away on the Blue Dragon and flew towards them with an angry shriek.

Daphne screamed as the demon slashed at them with its long, poison tipped, black claws but before it could reach them, a long, black tail smacked the demon and sent it flying through the air.

Sabrina turned around the see the Black Dragon flying beside them, his long black tail swinging out behind him.

Before she could open her mouth to thank him, another, more familiar, shriek filled the air. Sabrina turned to see a new demon fly out of the forest and she knew, without a doubt, that it was Jezebel.

The Queen Demon fought the dragons with skill. She clawed one dragon with deadly accuracy and Sabrina watched, knots twisting her stomach, as the unlucky dragon fell, withering in pain, to the ground below, its cries of agony filling the air.

Jezebel looked up and spotted them on the Blue Dragon. She let out an angry shriek and flew towards them.

A loud, earth shaking, roar filled the air and the Golden Dragon burst out of the cave. He was even longer than Sabrina had thought, as long as a train. A blast of fire flew out of his mouth and fried two unlucky demons.

Jezebel looked at the dragon and hissed in rage. She glared at the group on the Blue Dragon's back before turning around to fight the Golden Dragon.

But even with the King Dragon fighting, more and more demons flew towards the Blue Dragon, eager to get their claws into the humans on her back.

"Hurry," The Black Dragon said to the Blue Dragon, "I'll distract them." The Black Dragon turned around, his long wings, as long as Sabrina's house was tall, stretching out as he spun around. With a loud roar, he flew straight at the demons.

The Blue Dragon put on a burst of speed until they were a while away from the fighting.

"Use your flying carpet from here," The Blue Dragon said, "I have to get back to help."

"Thank you." Uncle Jake said as he unrolled the carpet, "Thank you for everything."

The Blue Dragon nodded her head, "Where are you headed next?"

"We're looking for the phoenix." Uncle Jake said, as he helped Daphne onto the carpet.

"You have to be careful about the phoenix," The Blue Dragon cautioned, "she tests those who come to see her, and if you don't pass her test she'll kill you."

"Thanks for the warning." Sabrina muttered as she hopped onto the carpet after Puck.

"She lives close to the Devil's Drop," The Blue Dragon said, "That's the jagged, crack on the side of the mountain. I wish you luck." The Blue Dragon said, and then she turned around and flew back to the cave.

"I wish we could help." Sabrina said, watching as the Blue Dragon flew out of sight.

"The only way we can help is by getting as far away as possible." Uncle Jake said, steering the carpet.

Sabrina sat beside Daphne and hugged the little girl. Daphne was shaking uncontrollably, her eyes wide with fear. She felt anger and guilt fill her. She should have made Daphne close her eyes instead of letting her watch the gruesome fight.

They flew on in silence as the sun started to rise, lighting up the land below them.

Sabrina saw that they were getting closer to the long crack on the side of the mountain, the Devil's Drop.

"Why do they call it the Devil's Drop?" Sabrina asked.

"Because they say that at night the Devil used to reach up and drag any children who were too close to it down the crack and straight to Hell." Uncle Jake said.

"Oh." Sabrina said, wishing that she hadn't asked. She scanned the ground below her and frowned when she spotted something moving close to the crack, "What's that?" She muttered.

As they got closer, she realized that it was a little girl, around Daphne's age. She was skipping dangerously close to the crack, swinging her arms and whistling.

"She's going to fall." Uncle Jake said, when he spotted the girl.

As if she heard him, the girl looked up and her foot slipped. The girl swung her arms, trying to regain her balance but it did no good. The little girl let out a terrified scream as she fell into the Devil's Drop.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**A/N- Sorry about how long it was and if it was lame and boring in some parts ( or if the whole thing was lame and boring).**

**Once again, I'm sorry it took so long to update but it's hard to get onto the computer when you have three brothers who use it a lot.**


	7. The Phoenix Part 1

**A/N- I'm so sorry it took so long for me to update . . . again. It's just that lately things have been really crazy, what with school starting and all. And I could not, for the life of me, figure out what to write. **

**So, this chapter was originally going to be a lot longer but I decided to cut it into two chapters so I could update sooner. I know it's not the greatest thing in the world but I hope you still like it! =)**

**Coraline Pevensie- Yes, Sabrina, Daphne and Puck are supposed to be in the book of an Everafter but I'm just pretending that that didn't happen yet. =)**

**Ayns and Sky - Thank you! =) Yes, I made up the dragon scale thing or at least I haven't read a book that's used that. =D  
**

**curlscat - Thanks for telling me that! I'll try to fix it as soon as I can.**

**Trickster Queen464- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Thanks! =D**

**1151133354445 - Yes that chapter was already up but I had to fix something in it. **

**Thanks everyone else who reviewed! You guys are awesome!!!!!**

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
**

The girl screamed as her feet slipped out from under her and she fell into the Devil's Drop. She swung her arms around frantically as she fell, she needed to be careful not to fall in too deep or the whole thing would be ruined. A burst of relief filled her as she managed to grab a rock that was jutting out of the side of the crack. She winced when her fall came to an abrupt halt, almost pulling her arms out of their sockets. She gulped and looked down, past her dangling feet and into the black void that waited below to swallow her. She closed her eyes and concentrated, praying that she hadn't fallen too far into the crack. Relief filled her when she felt the familiar warmth burning inside of her.

This crack had always felt sinister to her. She remembered her mother warning her and her sister to stay away from it, but that hadn't changed anything.

She closed her eyes, the past playing in her head like a movie, the voices of those who died filling her ears, the pain stabbing her heart again like it had all happened yesterday.

She shook her head, her fingers gripping the rock tighter, and stared up at the group of people flying on a carpet above her. She looked at their shocked faces and said the three words she remembered all too well; the three words the caused pain, anger, and sorrow to race through her.

"Please help me."

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

"UNCLE JAKE!" Daphne shouted, being the first one to break the shocked silence. "We have to help her! We have to!"

The little girl looked frantically at her uncle, "We can't just let her die! We have to save her!"

"I'm working on it, Daph." Uncle Jake said. "But when we get her I want all of you to stay away from her. There's no way to know for sure if she's as harmless as she seems."

There was something about the little girl that bothered Uncle Jake. Her eyes seemed to glow and she looked way to calm for someone who might fall to their doom any second. She looked more curious than freaked out, like she was waiting for him to answer a question. But glowing eyes and curious expressions weren't going to stop him from saving . . . whatever the little girl was, from dying.

"Hold on." He said, gripping the sides of the carpet tightly. "Carpet down."

The carpet flew down to the Devil's Drop but when it reached the opening of the crack, it stopped.

Uncle Jake frowned, "Carpet down." He said but the carpet didn't budge.

"Why isn't it moving?" Sabrina said, peering over the edge of the carpet. She felt a shiver run up her spine as she stared down into the Devil's Drop. It looked endless, like it really did fall straight to Hell.

"I don't know." Uncle Jake said, starting to get frustrated.

Sabrina looked at her uncle, she knew he desperately wanted to find the phoenix as fast as possible but she also knew that he wouldn't leave a little girl to fall to her doom. She looked over at Puck and an idea hit her.

"Puck, do you think you can fly down there and carry her up?" Sabrina asked.

Puck looked at her, looked over the edge of the carpet at the black oblivion below them, and then looked back at Sabrina.

"You're crazy." He said. "There's no way I'm flying down there."

"Puck! You can't just let her die!" Sabrina said.

"If you're so worried about a little girl you don't know then you can fly down there yourself," Puck said. "Besides, that's a hero's job and I'm a villain."

"Puck, I can't fly down there 'cause I'm not the one with WINGS!" Sabrina snapped. "You're the only one that can save her!"

"No, Sabrina. If Puck is too _scared _to fly down there, then we'll just have to think of something else." Daphne said.

Puck glared at her, "What did you say?"

Daphne looked at him innocently, "I was just saying that since you're afraid . . ."

"I am not afraid!" Puck yelled. "I am the Trickster King. The king of rebels, troublemakers and no-good-doers everywhere! I DO NOT GET SCARED!"

With that Puck's giant wings snapped out and he jumped over the side of the carpet.

Sabrina grinned at her sister, "That was brilliant."

Daphne grinned back at her, "I learned from the best." The little girl said, peering over the edge of the carpet.

Sabrina watched as Puck flew effortlessly down into the crack, no invisible barriers blocking his way. Her gripped tightened on the sides of the carpet the closer he got to the little girl. A feeling of dread filled her and her blue eyes narrowed.

Something was wrong. Why could Puck fly down the Devil's Drop and the carpet couldn't?

Sabrina watched as Puck reached the little girl, turning sideways so he could grab her easily.

A chill ran down her spin and time seemed to stand still as she watched Puck reach out to grab the little girl, the tip of his wing passing her foot by an inch. Suddenly, Puck's wings seemed to give out, flopping down in mid flap.

Sabrina felt terror grip her as she watched Puck, his green eyes wide with shock, fall into the Devil's Drop.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

She was mad. No. Mad was an understatement. She was angry, furious, livid, infuriated, enraged! She had almost had them! They were in her grasp and then those . . . those . . . those _dragons _showed up.

_DRAGONS!_

Jezebel screamed in fury and spun around, lashing out at one of the nearby trees, her long black claws leaving deep gashes in the bark. She had almost had them! That girl was practically in her grasp and then those dragons had to ruin it all! Jezebel closed her eyes, her claws curling into fists as she imagined herself choking that cursed blue dragon and the golden dragon.

The demons had almost won until the King Dragon had shown up. After that the demons were forced to retreat and hide out in the woods. Being smart monsters, the rest of the demons made sure there was lots of space between them and their angry queen.

Jezebel let out one more angry screech and then started to pace back and forth.

What she didn't understand was why the humans had gone to the dragons. It wasn't a little known fact that most dragons hated humans, so why did those pathetic humans risk their lives to meet the dragons? Unless the humans really needed something and the dragons had it. But then why did they invade her territory? Did she have something they needed? She must have because why else would they risk their lives by invading her territory?

But her slaves had searched the castle and had reported the nothing had been stolen. So that must mean . . .

A sinister smile slowly spread across Jezebel's face as a plan formed in her head.

"You!' She snapped, spotting one of her demons hiding behind a tree a few feet away.

"Yesssss, your majesty?" The demon said, walking over and quickly bowing, afraid that his queen's anger was going to be pointed to him.

"Take some of the demons and follow the humans." Jezebel ordered, looking up at the sky to see dark rain clouds forming above her head.

"Will you not be joining us?" The demon asked hesitantly.

"No," Jezebel said, her smile widening, "I think it's time I go home."

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Without thinking, the little girl moved her hand from the rock and grabbed the fairy's arm before he fell past her reach.

_This isn't good. _The little girl thought, trying to keep a good grip on the rock with one hand while making sure the fairy didn't fall to his death.

"You weren't supposed to fly down this far." The little girl hissed at the fairy dangling below her.

"Well, excuse me for trying to save you." Puck muttered. He felt cold and weak, like something was draining all the energy out of him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You passed the line." The little girl muttered, scanning the faces of the people above her. The older man was frantically searching his pockets; the little girl in pigtails looked scared and the older girl looked worried and frustrated, like she didn't like not being able to do anything.

"What line? I don't see a line." Puck said.

"Could you please be quiet? I'm trying to think." The little girl snapped.

"Don't you tell me to be quiet! I'm royalty." Puck said haughtily.

"If you don't shut up I'm going to drop you." She threatened.

"Do it and I'm taking you down with me." Puck said, gripping the girl's hand tighter.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're annoying?"

Puck grinned up at her, "Annoying, jerkish, cool, handsome, amazingly awesome, are all very true things people have called me."

The little girl rolled her eyes and looked back up at the people hovering above her. The man was pulling a ring out of his pocket and was frowning at it, as if trying to remember what it did. But she could already tell that it wasn't going to work. If anything it would make the whole situation worse. She could tell by the way the ring was glowing that it was powerful and as soon as it's magic reached down the crack, whatever it was down here that liked to feed on magic, would sense it and shot up, sucking up any magic along the way. And if it got to her, she'd be as helpless as the fairy and then she'd be as good as dead.

"WAIT!" She shouted. "Don't use that!"

Uncle Jake paused and stared down at her, puzzled, "What?"

"Don't use that! It'll just make things worse!" The little girl shouted again.

Uncle Jake's frown deepened, "This is the only way we can save you." He shouted down at her.

"If you use that, I'll let go of the rock." The little girl bluffed, hoping that he'd believe her.

Puck groaned, "Of course. The only thing between me and death is a suicidal little girl."

"She can't be serious." Uncle Jake muttered, staring down at the little girl in shock. She was staring up at him with such a stubborn look on her face that he actually believed that she would let go, taking Puck down with her.

"How else are we supposed to save them?" Daphne said, worry filling her brown eyes. "The carpet still won't budge."

Sabrina bit her lip, trying to figure out what to do. She stared down at the little girl, her frown deepening. Why didn't the little girl want them to use the ring? Was this whole thing a trap and she just wanted them to get closer to her so she could eat them?

Sabrina shivered as a picture of the little girl morphing into a giant, sharp toothed monster formed in her head. Sabrina shook her head, it didn't matter. They have to save Puck. Even though he was annoying, rude, and smelly, he was still part of the family and Sabrina wasn't willing to watch him die. Especially since she hadn't apologized for what she had said. Sabrina scowled, not that she needed to apologize to him.

_Besides, he still owes me for eating my dessert, _Sabrina thought, trying to convince herself that she wasn't going to save him because she kinda, sorta, maybe, possibly, half-way liked him.

But as she was staring down at them, she saw something that made her heart stop.

The little girl's hand, the only one that was gripping the rock, the only thing that was keeping her and Puck from falling to their deaths, started to slip off the rock.

Sabrina's grip on the carpet tightened, "Carpet, I swear if you don't fly down there now, I'll tear you to shreds and I'll burn the shreds and then I'll feed the ashes to Elvis!" She shouted.

Sabrina's threat worked and the carpet immediately flew down the Devil's Drop, hesitantly approaching Puck and the little girl. Uncle Jake reached over the edge of the carpet the closer they got to the little girl and Puck, his arm stretching out to grab them. Daphne leaned against him, trying to see what was going on.

Then Daphne sneezed, which caused her to bump into Uncle Jake, knocking him off balance and sending him pitching over the front of the carpet. Sabrina and Daphne lunged forward to grab Uncle Jake before he fell off the carpet. Sabrina and Daphne's combined weight slamming down on it, took the carpet by surprise and it fell a few feet.

It stopped to where it was level with the little girl's foot, the carpet's tassels just barely passing her foot. Just barely passing the line.

All of a sudden the magic was sucked out of the carpet, and it crumpled underneath the weight of Sabrina, Daphne and Uncle Jake.

Sabrina's eyes opened in shock as she fell, Daphne's scream's filling her ears. She closed her eyes, wondering how long it would take till she reached the bottom of the crack, if there was a bottom, when there was a sudden loud CRACK!

A bright light shined through Sabrina's eyelids and she screamed as a wave of boiling heat slammed into her.

**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**A/N - So, there's the first part of the next chapter. I'll try to get the next part up soon but I can't make any promises. **

**I'm sorry if some parts are confusing. The next chapter will explain some stuff.  
**


	8. The Phoenix part 2

**So, I'm really sorry it took me so long to update. I'd actually be kinda surprised if anyone still reads this . . . but if you are, you're AWESOME!**

**I'm sorry if ya'll don't like this chapter. For some reason it was really hard for me to write. Some parts of it might not match up with other things and it might be confusing but I did my best and I hope you like it!**

**!**

This wasn't how it was supposed to happen.

She wasn't supposed to save them.

They were supposed to save her . . . or better yet, _fail_ to save her.

She wasn't supposed to care if they fell . . . or if they died. . . she wasn't supposed to use her magic.

But she did . . . and there they were . . . lying a few feet away from her . . . unconscious . .

_Fudge muffins._

She could feel the panic rising up inside of her but no; she wasn't supposed to panic either. Powerful beings weren't supposed to panic. They weren't supposed to feel any emotion at all. They were supposed to be in control . . . calm . . . cool . . .

_What the heck am I supposed to do now?_

She took a deep breath, the wheels in her head turning furiously as she tried to think of a plan, and stared down at them.

They looked innocent and harmless. But she knew better. She'd been burned way too many times to trust anything by the way it looked. She knew that even a little girl in pigtails could be a bloodthirsty monster intent on ruling the world.

She frowned, staring intently at them, wishing she could see straight to their hearts and see what they really were like, and her eyes landed on the loudmouth fairy.

_The fairy stinks and he's annoying._

Annoying.

A plan started to form in her head.

She had to be careful.

In control.

Calm.

Cool.

_Fudge muffins._

_. . ._

The first thing Sabrina became aware of was that everything _hurt. _Her head, her arms, her pinky toes . . .you name it, it hurt. Her body felt like it had been repeatedly run over by a semi-truck, and her skin felt hot and tight, like she had been standing too close to a fire.

The twelve-year old girl let out a moan and slowly opened her eyes. She stared up at the stormy-gray sky, groggily wondering if it was worth all the pain and effort to get up, when she heard someone moan.

Sabrina sat up quickly and then regretted moving when her brain threatened to pound it's way out of her skull. She closed her eyes, waiting until the pain turned into a dull throb before she opened them again and looked at her surroundings.

She was lying a few feet away from the edge of the Devil's Drop. Beside her Uncle Jake and Puck were slowly starting to wake up, both of them looking as bad as she felt. Daphne looked like she was going to be knocked out for a while, and stretched out by her feet was a very burnt looking magic carpet.

Sabrina closed her eyes again and rubbed her throbbing head as she tried to remember what had happened. She remembered leaving the Dragon's cave . . . flying over the Devil's Drop and seeing the girl . . . Puck falling . . . everyone falling. . . and then everything went black.

But if they had fallen then . . .

_Why aren't we all dead?_

She opened her eyes again and looked over at Uncle Jake, who looked just as confused as she felt.

"What happened?" Sabrina asked.

"I . . . I . . . really don't know." Uncle Jake said, frowning down at the charred magic carpet, "Mom's gonna kill me." He muttered.

"Yeah, shouldn't we all be smashed into tiny pieces? Even though that would be AWESOME! There'd be little pieces of me everywhere! Think of how grossed out people would be!" Puck said, his emerald green eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Puck," Sabrina said, staring in disgust at the boy as she crawled over to Daphne, "you'd be dead."

The excitement left Puck's eyes, "Oh, yeah. That'd be a bummer." Puck sighed, "Way to go, Grimm. You gotta suck the fun out of everything, now don't you?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes at the fairy and gently shook her little sister's shoulder. "Daphne, are you okay?"

The little girl blinked up at her older sister sleepily, "Huh?" Daphne said as she sat up. "Wha . . . what happened?"

"We're all dead, marshmallow." Puck said, his expression dead serious. "You may think this is real but it's not. In reality you've been smashed into little pieces by a rock."

"Shut up, Puck!" Sabrina said, glaring at the fairy. "That's not true, Daphne."

"And once again, you suck the fun out of everything." Puck grumbled. "I was going to tell her _after _she freaked out that I was just joking."

"Yeah right . . ." Sabrina started but stopped when Daphne suddenly jumped up.

"Where's the little girl?" Daphne nearly shouted, her eyes frantically scanning the rocky ground that surrounded them for any sign of the girl. "Where'd she go? She didn't fall, did she?"

Before Sabrina could stop her, Daphne dashed to the edge of the Devil's Drop and stared down into the dark abyss, desperately trying to see something through the darkness. Sabrina rushed to her and pulled her back before she fell in.

Daphne turned to Sabrina, her brown eyes filling with tears. "She couldn't have fallen, could she?"

"Of course not." Uncle Jake said, as he and Puck walked towards them. But one look at her uncle's face told Sabrina that he didn't believe it.

They all stared down into the Devil's Drop, guilt and sadness filling them. Sabrina kept picturing the little girl hanging on to the side, staring up at them and begging for help.

"Of course not." Uncle Jake repeated, as if that would change anything.

"You humans are so strange."

They all spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Sabrina instinctively took a step in front of her sister, Uncle Jake reached into one of his many pockets, and Puck pulled out his wooden sword, as they prepared to fight off whatever monster was behind them.

But the petite woman standing there didn't look like a monster, but she also didn't look like any woman Sabrina had ever seen.

She looked like she was barely in her twenties, with pale skin that seemed to emit an eerie glow. She had short, spiky red hair that seemed to move in the windless air, reminding Sabrina of the way fire moves. She was wearing a dress that shimmered when she moved, subtly changing colors from orange to red to yellow. The dress was short enough to reveal the muddy brown army boots the woman was wearing.

But the one thing that really caught Sabrina's attention was the woman's eyes. Her amber colored eyes seemed to glow, reminding Sabrina of the dying embers of a fire.

"I can defend myself, you know." Daphne muttered, breaking Sabrina out of her trance as the little girl moved out from behind her older sister.

Daphne let out a gasp when she saw the woman, "Wow!" The little girl said, her palm inches away from her mouth, "You're so pretty! Are you a fairy?"

For a second, Sabrina thought she saw amusement flash across the woman's face but before she could be sure, the woman was back to looking at them with barely concealed disgust.

"Why do you cry over someone you don't even know?" The woman said contemptuously.

"Because she was a person who just died." Daphne said. The little girl stared at the strange woman in confusion, not understanding why anyone wouldn't be sad when someone had died, her unbitten palm slowly falling back to her side.

"Who are you?" Uncle Jake demanded.

"I'm the tooth fairy." The woman sneered, looking at them like they were a bunch of idiots. "Who do you think I am?"

Sabrina glared at the woman and opened her mouth to speak when it suddenly hit her.

"You're the Phoenix." She said, looking at the woman's fiery appearance.

"Good job, Einstein." The woman said, rolling her eyes.

There was a moment of silence as they all looked at the sneering woman standing in front of them: the woman that was supposed to help them.

"Really? I was kinda expecting a giant bird." Puck said, squinting at the woman and looking at her from different angles as if she'd suddenly turn into a bird.

Annoyance flashed across the Phoenix's face and she opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Daphne.

"Wait a second. If you're the Phoenix, then why didn't you save the little girl?" Daphne said, staring at her accusingly.

The Phoenix rolled her eyes again, "I'm the little girl, you dolt."

"Dududududududu, Welcome to the Twilight Zone." Puck muttered just as Sabrina shouted, "DON'T CALL MY SISTER A DOLT!"

"Wait . . . if _you _were the little girl then . . .was that the test?" Uncle Jake asked, grabbing Sabrina's arm before the enraged girl could attack the woman.

The Phoenix rolled her eyes again and Sabrina decided that she _really_ didn't like that woman. "Duh. The test was to see if you would save the little girl."

"Then we get what we want?" Daphne asked, hope filling her.

The Phoenix snorted. "No."

"WHAT?" Puck shouted after a moment of shocked silence. "But we tried to save her!"

"And you failed!" The Phoenix shouted back. "You were supposed to save me and I ended up saving YOU!"

"But we tried! That has to count for something!" Sabrina said.

"Well, it doesn't." The phoenix turned to walk away. "You know, close only counts in horseshoes . . . and whatever that saying is."

"Wait, please." Uncle Jake said. The Phoenix let out a loud sigh and turned back to look at him. Uncle Jake looked up at her pleadingly, "Please, all I need is one tear drop. The woman I loved died because of me, and if I get that tear drop, I'll be one step closer to bringing her back. Please."

The Phoenix looked at him and for a moment Sabrina could have sworn she saw sympathy in the woman's eyes. Sabrina felt hope rise inside of her but then the Phoenix closed her eyes and when she opened them again her face was emotionless.

"No." The Phoenix said and started to walk away again.

Uncle Jake fell to his knees and buried his head in his hands, and even Sabrina couldn't hold back the despair that filled her. They had been so _close! _They had gone through demons and dragons and now everything had been for nothing.

"HAS ANYONE EVER TOLD YOU THAT YOU'RE A JERK!" Puck suddenly screamed, picking up a pebble and throwing it at the Phoenix. The pebble bounced off the Phoenix's back and in a flash the woman was standing over the fairy, her flame colored eyes pools of rage.

"Oh, I'm the jerk?" She snarled, "You have no room to talk, fairy boy. NONE of you do!" She shouted, glaring at every one of them. "Especially you humans! You're a bunch of blood-sucking, lying, greedy, leeches! Did you ever wonder why I had to start doing these tests? Because people started asking me for powers, saying they needed them to save their farm or their daughter from a dragon. Then they'd go use my gifts to kill each other!" The Phoenix laughed, an oddly bitter sound, as she turned towards Uncle Jake. "How do I know that isn't some well thought out lie? How do I know you aren't a thieving, greedy, mad man bent on taking over the world?"

"I may be a jerk but I'm not going to let myself be tricked or forced into giving gifts to people who will use them only to hurt others." The Phoenix said quietly, turning around to walk away again.

"But we're not like that!" Sabrina shouted, 'We're the Grimms. Helping people is what we do!"

The Phoenix glared at her, "You know how many murders and evil dictators have told me that? No matter what, people are always going to end up stabbing you in the back or disappointing you. You of all people should know that." The Phoenix said, staring at Puck. "So here's a piece of advice, stop helping people. All you're going to do is end up hurting others and yourself."

The Phoenix turned to go but stopped when she heard a loud, "NO!"

The woman turned and stared down at the little girl with the messy brown pigtails and the brown eyes that stared up angrily at her.

"No!" Daphne said again and Sabrina stared in shock at her little sister. She had never seen Daphne so mad before, not even when she had lied to her. The little girl had her hands balled into fists and her whole body was shaking in rage.

"No matter what you say," Daphne said, her voice just above a growl, "I'll _never _stop helping people. I don't care how many times I get tricked or how many times I get stabbed in the back! If there's someone who needs my help, I'm going to help them 'cause I'm a Grimm and helping people is what Grimm's do and that's _never _going to change!" The little girl glared up at the Phoenix, "And you are soooooo not gravy!"

There was a long moment of silence as mystical creature and little girl stared at each other. Then the Phoenix bent down until they were eye to eye. Sabrina took a step forward, ready to pull her sister out of the way in case the woman decided to fry her, but stopped when she saw that the Phoenix was smiling.

"Congratulations," The Phoenix said, her smile widening, "You passed the test."

Daphne opened her mouth, an angry expression on her face and then paused. "Wait . . . what?"

The Phoenix laughed, "You passed the test." She repeated.

"But . . . you . . . and . . . then . . . and . . . oh, my head hurts." Puck groaned, rubbing his head.

"But I thought that saving the little girl was the test." Uncle Jake said.

"Well, yeah, but you guys kinda blew that whole thing up." The Phoenix said grinning, "So, I decided to come up with a different test. Really, it was the rude fairy that gave me the idea." She said, winking at Puck.

"Puck helped you come up with a plan?" Sabrina said skeptically.

"It's simple really. Most selfish people, when faced with an angry, rude, magical creature who won't give them what they want, would throw a tantrum," Sabrina turned to stare knowingly at Puck who looked at her and mouthed _'What?'_

"But not many evil people will tell a phoenix that she's wrong." The woman continued, grinning at Daphne, "You young lady have something I haven't seen in a long time." The Phoenix stared at all of them, "Actually, all of you have something I haven't seen in a long time. A pure heart."

Puck gasped as if someone had stabbed him through the heart, "I'll have you know," He said, glaring at the Phoenix, "that I'm the TRICKSTER KING! I do NOT have a . . . _pure heart_!" He said, spitting the words out as if they were poison. "I'm a villain of the worst kind!"

"So, you just pretended to be mean?" Daphne asked, ignoring the angry fairy.

"Yep." The Phoenix said a proud smile on her face, "And they said I couldn't act."

"But couldn't you have, like, read our minds or something?" Uncle Jake asked.

The Phoenix shook her head. "No. Phoenixes are not allowed to enter the minds of others unless it is _absolutely, positively, _necessary. In other words, we're not allowed to read people's minds unless the world is on the brink of destruction."

"What are you allowed to do?" Daphne asked, her eyes wide.

"Among many other things, I can see the future, fly, and this." She held up her hand and Sabrina watched as a ball of flame formed a few inches above her palm. "Pretty cool, huh?" She said, winking at Sabrina.

"But enough about me," She said, closing her hand and extinguishing the flame, "I believe I owe you guys a tear drop."

Sabrina stared at the woman in astonishment, surprised by how her personality had changed so dramatically.

Uncle Jake pulled the bottle out of his pocket and handed it to the Phoenix.

"So, all you need is a tear drop?" The Phoenix asked.

"Yeah." Uncle Jake said.

"Just making sure," The Phoenix said. "'Cause last time I got it wrong and, boy, that man was _not _happy."

The woman held the bottle up to her face, "Somebody say something sad."

"Dead puppies." Sabrina said.

Daphne looked at her older sister, tears filling her eyes, "Aw." She said just as Puck said, "Cool."

"Dead puppies . . . awww, poor little guys. Gone before they could enjoy life." The Phoenix said, her eyes tearing up. Sabrina watched as a silvery tear slid down the Phoenix's pale cheek and into the bottle.

The bottle immediately lit up and Sabrina watched as all the ingredients swirled around the bottle. Now they only needed one more.

The Phoenix stared at the bottle, a small frown on her face. "I may not be an expert on potions but I think I know what this is." She looked up at Uncle Jake, her frown deepening. "Do you know what else you need to complete this?"

Uncle Jake nodded, "Demon poison."

The Phoenix frowned, looking at Sabrina, Daphne and Puck and then back at Uncle Jake, staring him in the eye for a few moments.

"Be careful," She warned, handing him the bottle, "The Demon Castle is not a place for kids, or adults."

"I know." Uncle Jake nodded, as he carefully put the bottle inside his pocket. "But I have to do this."

"So, were you the one who saved us?" Sabrina asked.

The Phoenix nodded her head, "Luckily, I hadn't passed the barrier yet and was able to fly you guys out." She stared down at the burnt carpet. "Sorry about your carpet. I probably shouldn't have put that in my mouth."

"What's the deal with that thing anyway?" Puck asked, pointing to the Devil's Drop. "How come I could fly one second and then I couldn't another?"

"There's a magical . . . barrier down there." The Phoenix explained, "Whenever a magical creature passes that barrier, all their magic is sucked away."

"Why?" Sabrina asked, as lightning flashed overhead.

The Phoenix shrugged, "I have no clue. It could just be a spell some old witch made or maybe there's a monster down there but I've never really wanted to find out. Some mysteries are better left unsolved. But that's why I chose this spot for my test. Other than the fabulous scenery," She said sarcastically. "I figured most Everafters knew about the barrier and so they would be even more reluctant to try to save a little girl."

Another flash of lighting lit up the sky and Sabrina looked up as thunder rumbled. She barely heard the Phoenix enthusiastically telling Uncle Jake that she "can't grow my hair out because it grows straight up and then I look like one of those troll dolls." She was too busy thinking about what they had to do next.

Steal poison from a demon.

She shivered when she remembered the close call she had with the demon in the woods. She didn't know what had come over her. It was like the demon had cast some spell on her. Sabrina felt another shiver run down her spin. If it hadn't been for the dragon she would have died very slowly and very painfully.

_Will I be able to fight back next time? _She thought, watching Daphne as the little girl peered over the edge of the Devil's Drop. _Will I be able to defend Daphne if she needs me?_

Sabrina's hands balled into fists at her side. Yes, she would. There was no way she was going to let some demon get anywhere close to her little sister.

"What's wrong with the bird lady?"

Sabrina turned around at the sound of Puck's voice and froze when she saw the Phoenix.

The woman was staring out into space, her amber eyes vacant. Her mouth was moving slightly but Sabrina wasn't close enough to hear if she was saying anything.

Uncle Jake hesitantly reached a hand out to grab her shoulder but before he touched her, the Phoenix blinked. The woman's eyes widened and she jerked her head towards Daphne, opening her mouth and letting out a loud screech that sounded more like a bird than a human. With inhuman speed, the Phoenix dashed forward, grabbing the back of Daphne's jacket and yanking her back just as a dark shape flew out of the Devil's Drop; a long black claw slicing the air where Daphne's head had been.

Sabrina stared in horror as demon's started flying out of the Devil's Drop, letting out inhuman screeches as they shot into the stormy sky.

"RUN!" someone screamed. Sabrina turned and ran, scooping up the burnt magic carpet and dodging claws as she went but skidded to halt when she heard her little sister scream. Sabrina turned around and stared in horror when she saw a demon land in front of Daphne. Time seemed to slow down as she sprinted to her sister but she knew she'd be too late. The demon raised its arm, deadly black claws ready to slash the terrified girl in front of it, when suddenly the Phoenix was standing between it and it's prey.

The Phoenix lifted an arm and a fire ball shot out of her hand, sending the demon flying backwards and over the edge of the Devil's Drop.

The Phoenix turned towards Daphne and over the sound of angry screeches, Sabrina heard her yell, "CLOSE YOUR EYES!"

Sabrina closed her just as there was a bright flash. She opened her eyes again, trying to ignore the infuriated screeches of the blinded demons, and stared in shock at the bird that stood in the Phoenix's place.

The bird was huge with a sharp black beak and red, orange and yellow feathers. Flames ringed the edges of her giant wings and a long red tail shot out behind the bird. The only thing that remained the same where the Phoenix's amber eyes, except now they were the size of Sabrina's hand.

The Phoenix grabbed the back of Daphne's jacket with her beak and flung the little girl onto her back.

"SABRINA! LOOK OUT!"

Sabrina turned around in time to see a sharp black claw coming towards her face. She ducked, barely avoiding the claw, and swung the only thing she had in her hand, which happened to be the very abused magic carpet. The demon hissed in anger when the carpet hit its face but before it could swing at her again, something grabbed Sabrina and flung her into the air.

Sabrina landed with a soft thud on the Phoenix's back as fire shot out of the Phoenix's mouth and engulfed the demon. The Phoenix flapped her giant wings and took to the air, turning towards Puck and Uncle Jake.

_**Fudge muffins.**_

The Phoenix's voice seemed to have come from nowhere, popping into Sabrina's head like one of her own thoughts. Sabrina looked up to see what the Phoenix had seen and gasped. Puck was trying to carry Uncle Jake and dodge the demons at the same time, and it didn't seem to be working out too well.

"How . . . much . . . food . . . do you eat?" Puck panted, barely swerving away from a demon. "You . . . weigh . . . more than an elephant!"

"Oh, like you have room to talk!" Uncle Jake snapped as a ring on his finger shot some strange liquid at a demon.

"Hey, guys!" Daphne shouted as they flew towards them.

Puck immediately dropped Uncle Jake beside Daphne and then landed beside Sabrina.

"I never . . . want to . . . do that again!" The fairy boy panted. "My arms feel like jello."

_**Hold on tight!**_

They all grabbed handfuls of feathers as the Phoenix . . . stopped flying. Sabrina felt the Phoenix's body tense as they hovered in the air as the demons flew towards them.

"Is she broken or something?" Puck shouted and then the Phoenix flapped her giant wings once. Sabrina held on tighter as they shot through the air, flying faster than even a dragon. Wind slammed into her face, making it hard for her to breathe, so she leaned her head down into the soft feathers until the Phoenix slowed down. The Phoenix landed, her claws scratching against the stony ground.

_**Get off, quickly.**_

They all slid off her back and stood in front of her as she made sure everyone had made it.

_**Now is the time to say goodbye, even though I'm sure we'll be seeing each other soon.**_

"But what about them?" Uncle Jake asked, pointing behind them.

Sabrina turned and watched the demons flying towards them. The creatures were still far, far away but they'd soon catch up to the humans.

Sabrina could have sworn the giant bird smiled. _**Don't worry, I'll deal with them. But first I need to take care of your poor friend.**_

The Phoenix grabbed the magic carpet and placed in onto the ground. She leaned over it and opened her beak, breathing softly all over it. Sabrina watched in amazement as the magic carpet started to change; the charred threads changing into the strong, colorful threads it had before.

_**Pretty cool, right? **_The Phoenix winked at them and turned to Uncle Jake.

_**The demon castle isn't far from here, just over those trees and please, be careful.**_

Uncle Jake nodded, "I will and thanks for everything."

Sabrina never knew a bird could snort, but then again, the Phoenix wasn't an ordinary bird.

_**I should be thanking you guys! I haven't had this much action in centuries!**_

Then the giant bird turned her head to Sabrina and for a moment Sabrina felt that the amber eyes could see straight into her mind. The bird lifted a wing a yanked a feather out with her beak, placing it into Sabrina's hands.

_**I think you'll be needing this.**_

Sabrina looked up at her in confusion and she could have sworn she saw sadness in those giant amber eyes. Before she could ask anything, the Phoenix flapped her wings.

_**See you later! And you might want to fly away fast.**_

The giant bird winked at them and started flying towards the oncoming demons.

"Do you really think she can handle them by herself?" Daphne asked as they stepped onto the magic carpet.

"I sure hope so." Uncle Jake said, turning to watch the Phoenix as the magic carpet started to fly them away.

Sabrina turned around and frowned as she watched the Phoenix. It seemed that the closer the Phoenix got to the demons, the smaller the bird became. She gasped when she realized that not only was the bird getting smaller, _she was changing back into her human state!_

Sabrina watched in horror as the Phoenix changed back into a human. The woman hovered in the air for a few moments, seemingly oblivious to the oncoming demons. The Phoenix slowly raised her arms as she started to fall through the sky, let out a screech, and then blew up into flames.

Sabrina gasped as a giant wall of fire shot out, stretching at least two miles wide, engulfing the demons and anything nearby in flames. Even from this distance Sabrina could feel the heat from the blast. The twelve-year old gasped in disbelief as the giant wall of fire slowly started to take shape, forming into a giant, fiery bird. Sabrina could have sworn the fiery creature winked at them before it stretched out its wings, the flames reaching toward the sky, and let out a loud screech and then in the blink of an eye, the fire was gone.

They all stared in silence and amazement at the empty spot when the flaming creature and the demons had been.

"Is she dead?" Daphne finally asked.

"No." Uncle Jake said, still staring at the spot. "It's nearly impossible to kill phoenixes and you certainly can't kill them by burning them." He blinked and turned around. "I knew they could do a lot of things, but I never knew they could do that."

Daphne looked at Sabrina, a giant grin on her face, "Pretty cool."

. . .

The magic carpet landed beneath the trees just as the rain started to pour down from the sky. Sabrina slid off the carpet, and turned to stare through the trees. Even though she couldn't see the castle through the trees and rain, she knew it was there, looming ominously and daring anyone to enter.

"So, what's the plan?" Puck asked, looking at Uncle Jake.

Uncle Jake didn't look back at them. Instead, he busied himself with rolling up the carpet while he talked.

"The plan is that you guys are going to stay here while I go get the poison."

"Shhhh!" He said when shouts of anger filled the air and when he started to talk again, he looked them all in the eye, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the sound of the rain. "The Phoenix was right. The Demon Castle is no place for kids . . ."

"She also said it wasn't a place for adults either!" Sabrina snapped.

"Yeah, you can't go in there alone. You'll get your face ripped off by demons!" Puck added.

"We can help!" Daphne said.

"I'm not taking you with me and that's final!" Uncle Jake suddenly shouted. Sabrina stared at him in shock. Her uncle had never shouted at any of them before.

Daphne's eyes filled up with tears and she turned to run but Uncle Jake grabbed her arm, stopping her before she could go anywhere.

"I'm sorry, Daphne." He said softly, pulling her into a hug. "But I can't risk losing you too. Any of you." He said, looking at Sabrina and Puck over Daphne's head. "Mom needs you guys more than you know. You're too important to take this risk."

"And you're not?" Sabrina said softly but she already knew what he was going to say.

"'Brina, I have to do this and I need you to stay here and keep Daphne safe. And Puck, you need to make sure both of them are safe."

Uncle Jake gave Daphne one more squeeze and then slowly stood up. "If I'm not back by sunrise, all of you need to get on the magic carpet and fly back to camp. Okay?"

Everyone nodded their heads.

"Please, be careful." Daphne said, sniffing.

Uncle Jake smiled at her, "Don't worry. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve." He hugged Sabrina and even Puck before grinning at them one more time and then walking away.

Sabrina stood still, trying to ignore the worry that gnawed at her belly, as she watched her uncle walk away until the rain and darkness swallowed him up.

**!**

**Once again I'm sorry it took me forever to update. I'll try to write to next chapter really fast though. =D**

**Only about two more chapters to go!**


	9. The Castle

**A/N- Okay, I was going to post one chapter on here until I saw that it was close to 30 pages**, **so, here's half of the really long chapter. I'm already halfway done with the next part so, hopefully, I'll be able to post it by the end of this week, or sooner.  
**

**Curlscat- Thanks a lot, Miss. Nit-Picky. ;)**

**Seriously, thanks for pointing those out, I really appreciate it and I'll try to fix it as soon as I can. I'm sorry there were so many mistakes in there (my grammar loving mother would be horrified xD) but, hopefully, there won't be as many in this one.  
**

**Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I get the warm fuzzies when I read them. xD**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

**P.S - I feel sorry for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Think of having to spell that name in kindergarten . . . or writing it in cursive! 0.0**

**!  
**

He wasn't a coward. Anyone would tell you that. He'd fought monsters scary enough to make Arnold Schwarzenegger scream like a baby, flown on a magic carpet, fought the black knight on the Empire State Building and had even stood face to face with a dragon.

But if he wasn't a coward, then why didn't he move?

Why did he just stand there? Why didn't he charge in there, kill everything in sight and bring Briar back?

He stared up at the ominous castle as the rain drenched his head, willing himself to move.

WHY DIDN'T HE MOVE?

_Because you're scared._

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the voice; that annoying, stupid voice in the back of his head. The voice that always told him he wasn't good enough; that if he had been just a_ little_ faster or just a _little_ smarter, then things would have been okay. The voice whose sole purpose was to remind him that everything was his fault.

The voice that was always right.

He _was_ scared. He had seen what the demons could do; what pain they could cause and the realistic tricks they used to lure you in. He had seen dragons three times their size fall to the ground, their bodies twisted in agony from the demon's venom.

Jacob Grimm was scared.

_Briar Rose looked at him, her emerald green eyes filled with disbelief and amusement._

"_Monkeys? You're afraid of monkeys?" Briar Rose said, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "But they're so cute!"_

"_That's what they want you to think." Jake said, shivering at the thought of one of those hairy demons. "They're actually vicious beasts. And it's called monkeyphobia and it's very common." _

_Briar Rose stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. Her wonderful laugh quickly filling the empty coffee shop._

"_Oh yeah, this coming from the lady who's afraid of rollie-pollie-ollies," Jake muttered._

"_Hey," Briar said, smacking him lightly on the arm. "They're creepy looking!"_

"_And monkeys are hairy monsters!"_

"_Fine," Briar said, smiling at him with that smile. The smile that sent his heart racing and made his breath come in short. The smile that made him forget all the worries that constantly plagued his mind. The smile that warmed him all the way to his toes._

"_I'll protect you from monkeys if you protect me from the little devils."_

"_Deal," He said, winking at her. "But are you sure you don't mind being in love with someone who's afraid of monkeys?"_

_Briar stared at him for a moment, then leaned in and kissed him, ignoring Marlobarb's outraged scream of "HEY! KEEP IT G!"_

"_I'm sure." She whispered. _

Jake blinked as the memory disappeared, leaving him alone in the dark woods, soaking wet, and feeling like a scared little kid.

A strangled groan escaped from his lips and he fell to his knees in the muddy ground, overwhelming guilt threatening to choke him.

"Oh Briar," He whispered, his tears mixing with the rain. "I'm so sorry. I should have protected you. I'm so sorry."

Why hadn't he done something to save her? He should have done something! He was supposed to be the one to protect her no matter what! It was his fault Briar was dead! He had killed her, just like he had killed his dad. He hadn't been able to save his father and he hadn't been able to bring him back no matter how hard he tried.

But he could bring Briar back.

There was a chance that he could bring her back again, to hear her laugh, sing, and to hold her close again.

Uncle Jake slowly rose to his feet, grim determination overriding his fear, his hands balling into fists. He'd fight a whole army of demons to bring her back and if he died, then so be it. At least then he might be able to see her again.

He took a deep breath, briefly touching the rose in his pocket before stealthily moving towards the castle.

Not noticing the dark shape that was heading towards him.

**!**

The rain fell down relentlessly, drenching the three children even as they sat underneath the tree's large branches. But Sabrina hardly noticed the rain, or how freezing cold she was. She was too busy staring ahead, at the spot where she had last seen her uncle, praying desperately that he'll come walking through the trees, a giant grin on his face.

But he didn't come.

More than once Sabrina felt tempted to get up and go after him, to forget what he had said about it being too dangerous for her. But then she remembered Daphne. She knew her little sister wouldn't stay if she left. She knew her sister would want to come too, and nothing would stop her and Sabrina couldn't risk getting her little sister hurt.

_What if they caught him? What if he's hurt? What if he's dead . . . or worse?_

Sabrina quickly shoved her hand into her pocket and pulled out the Phoenix's feather, desperately trying to find something to distract her from her thoughts.

_I think you'll be needing this._

The Phoenix's words ran through her head as she stared down at the feather, a frown on her face as she tried to figure out why the Phoenix had given it to her.

It looked like a normal feather but it felt strangely warm, the warmth quickly spreading from her hands to all over her body and then something strange happened. All the worry and fear that had been bubbling inside of her vanished, replaced by a strong sense of peace. She let go of the feather and as soon as it left her hand, the peaceful feeling went away.

Sabrina stared in confusion at the feather. It may look like a normal feather, but there was defiantly something more to it.

Why had the Phoenix given this to her? And why had she looked so sad?

_Among other things, I can see the future._

A chill that wasn't related to the rain ran down Sabrina's spin. Had the Phoenix seen something in the future? But how could a feather help her?

_Maybe the feather has some kind of magic power _Sabrina thought, staring in confusion at the feather. But she didn't know for sure. None of the Grimm diaries that she had read mentioned anything about Phoenixes and the only person who would possibly know was Uncle Jake but he was gone.

_Well,_ Sabrina thought, looking over at Puck. _Maybe not the only person._

She knew it was a long shot, asking the fairy for information, but it was worth a try.

"Puck, do you know anything about Phoenixes?" Sabrina asked, picking up the feather and putting it back into her pocket.

The fairy boy looked up at her, his wet mop of blond hair sticking to his face, surprise flickering in his eyes. "What?" He said dramatically. "Does the all-intelligent Grimm not know something for once? I'm shocked!"

"Puck," Sabrina growled. "This is serious."

"Would a 'please' kill you?" Puck said, raising an eyebrow and giving her a cocky grin.

"Do you really have to be such an immature baby?" Sabrina snapped, glaring at the fairy, all the tension and fear that were in her turning quickly into rage.

"Well, if I'm so immature then why did you ask me?" Puck said, glaring right back at Sabrina.

"I don't know!" Sabrina snarled, just barely keeping herself from yelling. "I bet Elvis knows more than you!"

Puck opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by someone yelling, "STOP!"

They both turned to look at Daphne, who, until this point, had been curled up tightly in a ball in a vain attempt to keep warm. Now she was sitting up, glaring at the two older children, her small body shaking with cold, anger, and fear.

"Can you two stop fighting for one second?" The little girl snapped. "Just because you're not fighting doesn't mean that you have to admit you're madly in love each other! So, could you please just stop it 'cause I can't take it anymore! I'm cold, wet, tired and Uncle Jake's in a castle with a bunch of demons and he might not come back . . . and . . . and." A choked sob escaped from Daphne's mouth. "Just please stop fighting. It's so not gravy!"

"Daphne," Sabrina said, reaching over and pulling her little sister into a hug. As quickly as it had come, her anger disappeared, leaving her feeling drained. "It's okay. We won't fight anymore. It's okay, it's going to be okay. Uncle Jake's going to come back. As soon as those demons see that warrior face you showed him, they'll be too scared to move." She said, hugging her sister tightly until she stopped crying, just like she used to after their parents' disappearance, when it finally started to sink in that their parents weren't coming back.

"I know that they're one of the most powerful creatures on the planet, even more powerful than fairies." Puck said, softly. Sabrina looked up in shock as the fairy kept talking. "I know there aren't many left. The bird-lady back there might be the only one left for all I know. As soon as they started to do those tests, people started to get ticked off and many of the giant birds were killed when they didn't give somebody what they wanted. The killing started to get even worse when hunters noticed how much people were willing to pay for phoenix feathers."

Sabrina looked up when he mentioned the feathers. "Is there magic in their feathers?" She asked quickly.

Puck frowned, his brow furrowing in thought as he tried to remember. "I . . . I . . . don't know." He said finally. "I know that their tears can heal, that some of the more powerful ones can open portals in time with their claws but I don't know anything about their feathers."

"Oh." Sabrina said, trying to ignore the disappointment that filled her.

"How do you know all that, Puck?" Daphne asked, slowly moving out of Sabrina's hug to look at the fairy.

Sabrina looked at Puck, her confusion matching Daphne's. Puck wasn't exactly the brightest person in the world, or at least he didn't act smart, so it was strange for him to know things.

"My dad told me." Puck said, giving them a smirk that was more bitter than mischievous. "He said that I needed to be prepared if I ever ran into one of the overgrown birds. He said that if I did, then I needed to order it to give me more power . . . or to make me a proper king because it was going to take a lot of magic to make that happen." His voice dropped at the last part, making it hard for them to hear, and his green eyes focused on the ground as if he found something interesting down there.

No one spoke for a while, the only sound being the rain as it hit the leaves. Sabrina stared at Puck, sympathy filling her as the Phoenix's words echoed in her head.

_No matter what, people are always going to end up stabbing you in the back or disappointing you. You of all people should know that._

She couldn't imagine what if felt like to be kicked out of your home by your dad. It had hurt a lot when she had thought her parents had abandoned her, but there was always that small hope that maybe they hadn't. That maybe they still loved her.

A sudden memory popped inside her head, the time at Scrooge's place, when Oberon had talked through her.

"Puck," she said before she could stop herself. "You remember when I told you about when we went to Scrooge's and how ghosts could talk through me?" She said, shivering at the thought. That experience hadn't been pleasant at all.

"Yeah." Puck said, grinning at her. "Just another thing to add to how weird you are."

"Well, when your dad . . . I don't know . . . possessed me or whatever, I . . . felt something." She said, frowning as she tried to think of a way to explain it. "I think . . . no, I know he regretted banishing you. That, even though he may not have shown it, he loved you, a lot and that he wished that he could tell you that."

Puck stared at her for a moment, his mouth open in an O and his eyes wide with shock. Then he blinked and looked away quickly.

"Um, I think I'll go see if I can find some berries or something to eat." He mumbled, standing up and walking through the trees. But before he was out of sight, he turned and looked at Sabrina. "Thanks, stinkpot." He said, smiling hesitantly before turning and disappearing into the woods.

Daphne looked over at her sister and then gave her a big hug. "That was gravy." She said.

Sabrina grinned at her sister but the grin slowly faded as she looked up to the same spot and didn't see Jake.

"How long has he been gone?" Daphne asked, following her gaze.

"I don't know." Sabrina said. It felt like it had been hours.

"Do you think we should go after him?" Daphne asked, looking at her big sister.

"I don't know." Sabrina said again.

They sat quietly for a moment, listening as the rain fell around them, both of them desperately hoping that their uncle would come back soon.

"Sabrina?" Daphne asked suddenly, breaking the silence. "Do you think the dragons are okay?"

Sabrina blinked in surprise at the question. She had tried not to think about the dragons but she couldn't fight the feeling that, since the demons had caught up to them at the Devil's Drop, the dragons were either dead or seriously wounded.

She opened her mouth to answer but stopped when the sound of branches being broken reached her ears. She turned towards the sound, fear twisting in her gut as she stared into the dark woods, the sounds growing louder and louder. It sounded like something was coming towards them but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't see past the shadows that clung to the trees. Images of blood-thirsty demons sneaking through the woods invaded her mind.

"What's that?" Daphne whispered, her body tensing up as she got ready to punch the daylights out of whatever it was.

"I don't know." Sabrina said, pushing away her fear as she grabbed the nearest stick. She held the stick in front of her like a baseball bat, listening as the thing got closer and closer. . .

"OW! GRIMM! Why'd you do that?"

Sabrina stared in shock at the angry fairy in front of her, the berries and nuts he had been carrying, and shoving into his mouth, falling to the ground as he grabbed his head.

"Ow!" He moaned rubbing his head where she had hit him and then frowning down at his hand. "I think I'm bleeding!"

"That's just berry juice." Sabrina said, dropping the stick. "Man up. I didn't hit you that hard."

Puck ignored her, wincing as he gingerly prodded the lump on his head again.

"That's the last time I try to do something nice." He muttered, glaring at her. "I think you gave me a . . . a . . .a conclusion!"

"You mean a concussion?" Sabrina asked, rolling her eyes.

"See? It's already started to mess my thoughts up!" Puck said.

"Aw, do you need Sabrina to kiss your boo-boo?" Daphne asked slyly, trying to hide her smile.

"And get infected with cooties? No way!"

"Why were you making so much noise anyway?" Sabrina snapped after shooting Daphne a furious glare.

"Because I didn't think some psychopath was gonna hit me on the head with a stick!" Puck said and then he froze, a frown on his face.

"Wha . . ." Sabrina started but stopped when Puck shushed her, his frown deepening as he listened to something she couldn't hear.

Suddenly Puck's eyes widened with fear.

"RUN!" He shouted but it was too late.

Before anyone could move, loud shrieks filled the air and something heavy slammed into the branches above their heads.

Sabrina screamed, throwing her arms over her head to protect herself from falling branches as something cold and smooth wrapped around her arms.

She felt herself being jerked up into the air, shock and fear filling her as she watched the trees below her feet grow smaller.

She looked up to see what had grabbed her, trying to ignore the rain that pelted against her face, and all the air left her lungs as she found herself staring up at a demon.

_NO!_ Sabrina thought, her fear quickly turning into blind panic. _NO NO NO NO NO!  
_"LET ME GO!" She screamed, struggling to break free from the demon's grip. Over the shrieks of the demon and the wind whistling in her ears, she heard Daphne scream her name but Sabrina couldn't break free. The demon's grip was like iron and no amount of thrashing and screaming was going to make it let her go. Even if she had been able to break out she would have just fallen to her death.

_That couldn't be worse than wherever they're taking us _Sabrina thought, looking up to see where they were being carried.

Fear formed a cold block in her stomach as the Demon Castle loomed ahead of her, growing closer and closer.

**!**

Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating the figure of a dragon as she flew through the air. The Blue Dragon scanned the ground, her enhanced eye sight easily seeing through the rain, her scaly face set with grim determination. She hated this job, but not many were capable of doing it. The dragons who weren't wounded by the demon attack had to help those that were, and they had to protect them if the demons attacked again.

The Blue Dragon flew in a wide circle, looking for any remaining demons and any more dragon bodies. It was her job to cover the dead bodies to hide them from predators until other dragons came to carry them away for a proper burning.

The Blue Dragon spotted a body lying beside a bunch of rocks. She had flown over it twice already without spotting it there, its scales blending in with its surroundings.

The Blue Dragon flew down beside the dead body of the dragon, her claws digging into the now muddy earth. She stared at him for a moment, sadness gnawing at her heart. She remembered this dragon. He was the one with the big laugh and kind eyes. The one everyone eagerly circled around to hear what wild stories he had come up with.

She shook her head and blinked again, focusing on the body and not the dragon he used to be. There was no reason to cover him up with branches; his brown scales easily camouflaged him with the surrounding rocks, making it impossible for predators to find him.

The Blue Dragon bent her head down, her snout touching the space between the dragon's eyes.

"May your spirit forever fly in the sky of paradise." She whispered.

She spread her wings and flew up into the air again, flying around one last time before heading towards the cave where the rest of the dragons were, guilt filling her. She couldn't help but think that it was her fault that those dragons were dead. They had fought to help the humans, the humans that _she_ had insisted they help. But she couldn't fight the feeling that saving the humans had been the right thing to do, and they had promised to help the dragons in the future.

The Blue Dragon flew gracefully into the cave, shaking herself to rid her scales of water.

"I hate flying in the rain." She said, folding her wings closer to her body to make it easier to fit in the cave.

"Did you see anything?" A deep voice rumbled from the back of the cave. She looked up to see the Black Dragon sitting beside a wounded gray dragon.

She shook her head, "Nothing but dead dragons." She said softly.

The Black Dragon stared at her, taking in the sad expression on her face. He motioned to another dragon to come take care of the wounded gray one and walked over to stand beside her.

"Hey," He said, his voice soft. "They died heroes and the wounded are going to heal soon."

The Blue Dragon nodded her head, turning to look at the dragons behind her.

The fight with the demons had been the hardest fight the dragons had had in a while. After years of solitude, the only fights being with each other, the dragons hadn't been prepared for how the demons fought, giving the demons an advantage. Out of the twenty that had flown out to fight, five dragons were dead, their twisted bodies scattered out over the forest, and six were badly injured from trying to avoid being infected by demon venom. One dragon had a broken wing from letting himself fall to the ground to avoid being scratched by a demons deadly claw. If her father hadn't joined the fight, she was sure many more, if not all, dragons would have died.

At the thought of her father, the Blue Dragon turned back to the mouth of the cave, her eyes searching the darkness outside for the glint of golden scales. After making sure the injured were safe and secure inside the cave, the Golden Dragon had immediately flown back to the main cave to make sure the demons hadn't decided to attack there and he still wasn't back.

"I'm sure he's fine." The Black Dragon said.

The Blue Dragon nodded her head but continued to stare worriedly out the mouth of the cave.

"But he's not the only one you're worried about, is he?" The Black Dragon said, looking at her worried blue eyes. Annoyance flashed across his scaly face. "Are you worried about the _humans?"_

The Blue Dragon sighed, "Demons were after them!" She said, turning to face him. "Whatever they're up to can't be safe. For all we know they could be in trouble."

"Would you be willing to help them?"

The two dragons spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. The Blue Dragon glared in suspicion and shock at the figure standing just inside the mouth of the cave. The figure was wearing a long cloak with the hood pulled up, covering the person's ( if it even was a person) face in shadows. The Blue Dragon could feel the power rolling off of the stranger, making her even wearier of it. She glared at the person, wondering why she hadn't heard or smelled the figure long before they entered the cave.

_Must be the rain_, she thought.

"Who are you?" The Black Dragon hissed, baring his long, sharp teeth.

The figure ignored him. "Will you be willing to help them," It repeated. "Even if it means fighting the demons again?"

"How do you know the humans?" The Blue Dragon asked suspiciously. "And how do you know they're in trouble?"

"How I know the humans doesn't matter." The figure said. "And let's just say that you dragons aren't the only ones with cool powers."

"How do we know this isn't a trick? How do we know you aren't a demon?" The Black Dragon snapped.

"You don't." The figure said simply, its shoulders moving in a slight shrug.

The Blue Dragon frowned. The person didn't seem like a demon to her. Sure, whoever it was was powerful . . . but the power radiating from the figure didn't feel as menacing as a demon's.

And what if the person was telling the truth? What if the humans were in trouble and needed help?

An image of the humans popped into her head. The little girl with the big smile, the blonde that seemed to scowl a lot but had a pretty smile, the annoying, but kinda funny fairy, and the brave older man. They were a few of the little remaining human and everafters who didn't consider the dragons to be threats that needed to be destroyed. Letting people like that die would be a mistake . . . and maybe she wanted to see where the fairy and human girl's little romance went and if they partook in the _kissing_ again.

The Black Dragon looked at her frowning face and gasped. "You can't seriously be thinking about this! Even if this wasn't a trick, we would be risking our lives for _humans! _Again! Look at them!" The Black Dragon pointed with his tail to the injured dragons behind him. "Look at how much they've already sacrificed for those humans! Are you willing to risk even more for something you don't even know to be true?"

"Think about it this way," The figure said. "You'll get a chance to rid Ferryport Landing completely of demons."

The Blue Dragon looked over at her companion. "I don't know. It doesn't feel like a trick." She said, turning back to the figure. "And that one doesn't seem like a demon."

The Black Dragon growled, "What about the other dragons? Do you think they'll be willing to fight the demons _again?_"

"We certainly wouldn't mind kicking some more demon butt."

The two dragons turned around to stare at the group of dragons that had formed behind them.

"Besides, they killed my brother," A dark purple dragon growled. "And I'm not going to let them get away with that."

The other dragons murmured in agreement. "But it's your call." One dragon said and they all stared at the Blue Dragon.

She turned to stare at the Black Dragon. She could feel her gut screaming at her to trust whoever this person was, to fly out and save the humans. She knew she would go no matter what the Black Dragon said, but she really wanted him to come with her.

He let out a sigh. "I'll go wherever you go." He promised. "But are you sure we can trust . . .that?" He said, jerking his head towards the figure.

"Oh, you can trust _her _all right." A voice deeper than thunder rumbled from outside the cave. They turned in time to see the Golden Dragon land behind the figure, half of his body inside the cave, the other half outside in the rain.

"So, you want us to go help?" The Blue Dragon asked, relief filling her at the sight of her father.

"Only if you are willing too." The Golden Dragon said, eying the six dragons standing behind them, "It will be no easy feat to get rid of the demons. You may face death once again."

They all raised their heads and slammed their tails into the ground twice, the universal dragon sign for yes.

'Is that a yes?" The figure asked.

The Golden Dragon turned to it, his golden eyes flashing with amusement. "Of course. I'm not going to be shown up by a _bird._" He suddenly lifted his tail and knocked the hood off the figure's head, revealing a woman with spiky red hair and a wide grin.

"Pretty cool." She said.

**!**

_This can't be happening. _

The thought ran circles around her head as Sabrina stared down at the black obsidian floor, cold beneath her fingertips.

The demons had flown into the castle and dropped the children onto their knees in the middle of a cavernous room, not even bothering to tie their hands as they stepped back to join the other demons that stood at the edge of the room.

The only good thing was that Uncle Jake was okay . . . if being at the mercy of a bunch of blood-thirsty monsters could count as being okay. Shortly after Sabrina and the others had been unceremoniously dropped onto the floor, a demon had dragged Uncle Jake in, throwing him down beside Sabrina.

Sabrina quickly glanced over at her uncle. His wet hair stuck to his face, water dripping from it and his jacket as he stared at the ground, his mouth set in a straight line, hands balled into tight fists. His head turned slightly and for a brief moment their eyes met and instead of seeing fear, Sabrina saw fierce determination burning in her uncle's eyes. Despite the odds, he hadn't given up.

Her uncle's attitude sparked courage inside of her. Why should she be afraid? She was a Grimm! She'd been in tons of life or death situations before . . . but before they'd always had magic to help them.

Magic! Sabrina's eyes widened as she looked back at Uncle Jake, her eyes locking on his jacket, the jacket with a bunch of magical items. The demons must not know what was inside all those pockets . . . but that might not last for long.

Sabrina frowned down at the floor, trying to think of a way to keep the demons away from Uncle Jake's jacket. When she looked up again her blue eyes met emerald green ones. Sabina nodded her head slightly towards Uncle Jake, barely aware of the demons dropping to their knees around her. Puck frowned in confusion at Uncle Jake and then his eyes widened. He looked back at Sabrina, a mischievous smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Sabrina looked over at him, trying to warn him to be careful, when she was suddenly aware of how quiet the room was.

She looked down at the floor, and took a deep breath, shoving away her fear as she grabbed Daphne's hand and looked up into the eyes of the demon queen.

Sabrina didn't know when she had entered the room but there she was in front of them, sitting on a large black throne.

The throne rested on top of a raised dais, successfully forcing everyone to look up at the Demon Queen. Sabrina looked up at the monster, fear and anger mixing inside of her. This time the demon was in her true form, her snake like skin looking like black ink, her wings folded behind her back. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she looked down at them, her red eyes filled with wicked amusement.

"It's amazing that your race has lived this long, considering how stupid you humans are." Jezebel said, her cold voice filling the large room. She stood up with a grace that contradicted the way she looked and walked down the steps towards them, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"Did you really think that you, mere weak humans, could trespass into _my _territory and get away with it?" She spat, her black claws clicking on the stone floor as she walked towards them. Jezebel stopped in front of them, taking a deep breath, a sinister smile revealing poison covered fangs. "It's been a while since I've tasted human."

Suddenly the grin was replaced by a frown. "But why did you trespass onto my territory?" She said, not waiting for an answer as she cocked her head to the side and studied the prisoners before her.

"What did you want?" She said, her voice barely above a whisper, her red eyes locking onto Uncle Jake.

"Did you think you could steal some of our treasure?" she said, eyes narrowing as she took a step closer to Uncle Jake, sniffing deeply.

Sabrina was positive everyone in the room could hear her heart beating. She bit her lip so hard she tasted blood, trying to think of a way to distract the demon without getting herself killed as the Demon Queen took another step closer to her uncle.

"Or did you wish to steal some of our magic?" Jezebel said, mostly to herself as she bent over Jake and took another deep breath.

"It's no wonder you haven't eaten anything in forever, what with how long it took you to catch us."

Jezebel straightened, turning around sharply to glare at the fairy boy.

Puck, oblivious to the demon's glare, sat up on his knees, staring around at the demons.

"Wow." He said, whistling. "Looks like half of your demons are dead." He grinned crookedly at the Demon Queen. "That's a lot to lose chasing a bunch of weak humans."

Jezebel hissed, her red eyes glaring daggers at the boy. "It's been even longer since I've had fairy for dinner."

Puck looked at her and smirked. "Shocker."

A loud roar filled the room, bouncing off the walls. In the blink of an eye Jezebel was in front of Puck, her face inches from his, one hand wrapped around his arm, forcing him in place, the other close to his throat, her claws barely brushing his skin.

Sabrina sat frozen with fear. She knew that all the Demon Queen had to do was prick him with her claw and Puck would die. She tried to stand up but demons shoved both her, Daphne and Uncle Jake back down, forcing them to watch.

Seconds felt like hours as the Demon Queen and Puck stared at each other and then the demon spoke in a slow whisper that sent shivers down Sabrina's spin.

"You seem to like to talk a lot." Jezebel whispered, scarily calm as she stared at the fairy. "That's a good thing because that means you're a good screamer and, trust me, you're going to be screaming for a very long time." She tapped Puck's cheek lightly with the tip of her claw. "A _very_ long time." She said, grinning wickedly when she saw fear flash across his eyes.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU BIG MEANIE!" Daphne shouted, struggling to stand up.

Jezebel just laughed and walked back up to her throne, her laugh reverberating off the stone walls.

"Take them to the dungeons." She said, sitting back onto her throne. "And lock them up tight. We don't want our dinner to escape."

Demons grabbed Sabrina and the others and dragged them out of the large room.

Jezebel grinned as she watched the humans and the fairy being dragged out of the room. She had won. She had caught them and she was going to show them what happened when you tried to make a fool out of the Demon Queen.

Already she felt energized after seeing the fear in both the fairy's and humans' eyes, and that was just the beginning.

Jezebel's malicious smile widened.

This was going to be fun.

**!**

The demons, not waiting for their prisoners to stand up, literally dragged them down flights of stairs. Sabrina, while concentrating on not breaking any bones, tried to memorize every twist and turn the demons took for if . . . when they escaped. But the castle was too large and everything looked the same. Every hall was black, the stones looking like the demons had pulled them right out of the night sky, and every winding staircase looked just like the last one. There weren't any rugs or pictures or anything to distinguish one hall from another. The only thing that changed was that the farther down they went, the colder it got.

Finally the demons dragged them into the dungeon, which was a narrow hallway with cells embedded into the stone walls.

The demons roughly shoved Sabrina and the others into a cell, laughing as they locked the barred door.

"Sssssseee you sssssoon.' One demon said, its malicious laugh echoing off the walls as it walked away.

Sabrina waited until the demons were gone before slapping Puck on the back of the head.

"What were you thinking? You could have been killed!" She said, glaring at him as she tried to stop herself from shaking. Whether she would admit it or not, that had been one of the scariest moments in her life. She could have sworn her heart had stopped beating when the demon had lunged at the fairy. She had thought he was going to die and for some reason that scared her more then being surrounded by a bunch of blood-thirsty demons.

"I was thinking, 'hey, let's get the overgrown lizard away from the magic stuff!'" Puck said, glaring at her as he rubbed his head. "And that's the second time you hit me!" He grumbled, turning to look at Uncle Jake. "Please tell me you have something in your jacket to get us out of here."

"Let's hope so." Uncle Jake said as he started rummaging through his pockets. "What you did was stupid . . . funny, but stupid. If we don't get out of here, it's not going to be pleasant for you."

"I don't think they had planned on eating me in a pleasant way before." Puck muttered.

Uncle Jake pulled out the potion bottle and stared at it for a few moments, watching the ingredients change colors as they floated inside the bottle.

"I'm sorry you guys." He said. "I shouldn't have let you come along. I knew it was too dangerous and now . . . I'm so sorry, this is my fault."

"It's not your fault, Uncle Jake." Sabrina said. "We decided to come ourselves and nothing you could have said would have changed our minds."

Uncle Jake gave her a small grin, "True." He said.

Daphne walked over and gave him a big hug, grinning up at him. "Don't worry; we'll get out of here. We're Grimms, it's what we do."

Uncle Jake grinned at her and handed Puck the potion bottle. "Hold this while I look and see what I have." He winked at the fairy. "I hope you don't hate me for dragging you into all this."

Puck moved the bottle around in his hand. "Dragons, fiery birds, and overgrown killer lizards, wouldn't have missed it for all the stink-bombs in the world." He said, grinning.

"You mean, you don't know what's in there?" Sabrina asked, watching as her uncle pulled what looked like a bunch of chewed up bubble gun out of a pocket.

He looked up at her sheepishly. "It's been a while since I've cleaned it out."

"How come the demon lady knew you had magic with you?" Puck asked, looking down at what looked like the bones of a rat.

"Some creatures can sense, or in this case, smell magic." Uncle Jake said. "It's a good thing you distracted her or we would have been in big trouble."

"Except he almost got killed." Sabrina muttered earning a glare from Puck.

"Daphne, think you can give me a hand?" Uncle Jake asked. The little girl ran over to him, eager to help him find something that could help them.

Sabrina sighed and looked around the cell for anything that could help them escape. She knew she wouldn't be any help with Uncle Jake, with her addiction she might sneak magical items into her pockets when no one was looking.

Apparently, the demons didn't bother with making sure their prisoners were comfy. There was nothing in the cell, not a chair or even a cot to sleep on. There was only dust, a few bones, and a lit torch hanging against the wall, the only source of light in the dungeon.

After spotting nothing, she walked over to the bars blocking their way out. She looked down the hall for any sign of demons, but apparently the demons didn't think they needed to guard the weak humans. After making sure the hall was clear, she turned her attention to the bars. They were thick; she couldn't even wrap her hand all the way around one, and there wasn't a single bit of rust on them.

"Puck," She said, turning to stare at the fairy. "Do you think you could break these?"

Puck walked over to her, shoving the potion bottle into his filthy hoodie pocket. He looked at the bars, a frown on his face and then punched one as hard as he could.

"OW!" He howled, cradling his wounded hand and bouncing around the room.

"I meant if you could turn into an animal and break them, doofus!" Sabrina snapped.

"Well, that would have been nice to know!" Puck said, gingerly cradling his hand.

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Let me see your hand. Knowing you, you probably broke it." Sabrina said, gently taking his hand and looking at it. It didn't look broken to her, just kinda bruised.

She looked up to find him staring at her and all the fear she had felt in the throne room came rushing back. Puck had almost _died_! Even though on numerous occasions she wished she had never met the annoying, prankster, she realized, staring into those green eyes, that life wouldn't be. . . right without him.

And besides, she still had to get him back for all the pranks he had pulled on her.

"Puck. . ." Sabrina started but stopped when she didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell him to never scare her like that again, but of course she couldn't say that unless she wanted to be teased for the rest of her life.

Puck looked at her. "What? Spit it out, stink brain!" he said, just as Uncle Jake shouted, "Got it!"

Sabrina and Puck spun around to find Uncle Jake triumphantly holding a small sack in his hand. He opened the sack and poured what looked like tiny red rocks onto his palm.

"What are they?" Daphne asked, looking wide eyed at the rocks.

"Wait, we're going to pelt them with rocks?" Sabrina said, skeptically.

But even as she was saying that she knew they weren't normal rocks. Even from where she was standing she could feel the irresistible pull of magic coming off of them.

"These aren't ordinary rocks." Uncle Jake said, grinning at them. "They're explosive rocks. All you have to do is throw one at a solid object and it explodes!"

"COOL! I want some!" Puck said eagerly, holding out his hand.

"You must be crazy." Uncle Jake said, looking at the fairy and shaking his head. "There's no way I'm giving these to you."

"Can they knock the bars off?" Daphne asked, pointing to the door.

Uncle Jake opened his mouth but the sound of voices drifting outside made him stop.

Sabrina and Puck stepped back from the cell bars as two demons came into view.

"Ssssssso," One of the demons said as it opened the cell door. "Which one wantssss to be devoured firsssst?"

Its companion looked at Puck, its red eyes glinting maliciously in the torch light. "The Queen sssssspecifically requesssssted the fairy."

The other demon laughed as it walked towards Puck. "Don't look ssssso ssscared." It hissed, its grin revealing long fangs. "It'ssss an honor to be eaten by the queen."

"Leave him alone!" Daphne yelled, showing her warrior face.

"What'ssssss wrong with that one?" It said, staring in disgust at the little girl.

"HIYAH!" Daphne yelled and kicked the monster in its shin.

The demon roared in anger. "Or maybe we'll start with you!" It snarled, lunging at Daphne.

But it never reached her.

Just as the demon was flying towards Daphne, Uncle Jake threw an explosive rock. The tiny red rock sailed through the air, glinting in the light of the torch before connecting with the demon's skin.

There was a loud BOOM and something slammed into Sabrina, pinning her against the wall. Sabrina squeezed her eyes shut as the ground shook violently, rocks raining from the ceiling as shrieks filled the air. Suddenly, the shaking and shrieks stopped. Sabrina slowly opened her eyes, blinking as dust settled around her.

"You okay?" Puck asked. The fairy had shoved her against the wall to avoid being crushed by falling stones. The explosive rock had blown not only the bars off the door but a part of the ceiling to bits. Large chunks of stone that used to make up the ceiling were now stacked on top of each other where Sabrina had been standing a few minuets ago.

Sabrina nodded her head as she looked around, fear twisting in her gut.

"Daphne?" She said, standing up and looking around frantically for her little sister. An image of Daphne being squashed by rocks kept playing over and over in her head. "Uncle Jake? Daphne?"

"Sabrina!"

Her sister's muffled voice came from the other side of the pile of rocks.

Sabrina ran over, trying to find a hole or a crack in the pile of rubble. "Are you okay?" She shouted, after finding nothing. "Is Uncle Jake okay?"

"We're both fine."

Relief filled Sabrina at the sound of her uncle's voice.

"I'm fine too, just in case anyone's wondering." Puck said standing beside Sabrina.

"I'm glad you two are okay." Uncle Jake said. "Can you guys see anyway to get over here with us?"

Sabrina looked around at the rocks, the only holes were at the top of the pile and they were too small to squeeze through.

"No!" she shouted.

She heard her uncle sigh. "I'd throw another rock but someone could get hurt." He muttered, his voice barely audible. "And moving them would take too long."

Sabrina thought she heard Jake sigh before he said. "We're going to have to split up."

Sabrina looked at Puck, seeing her own uncertainty reflected in his eyes.

"Just focus on getting out and don't confront a demon unless you have too and please stay safe." Sabrina could hear the worry in her uncle's voice.

"You too." She said.

"Don't worry, Sabrina!" Daphne shouted. "I'll show any demon who tries to fight us who's boss!"

Even though she couldn't see her, Sabrina was positive that Daphne was making her warrior face.

"Don't worry, Jakey." Puck said, pulling out his trusty wooden sword. "I'll keep ugly here safe."

"We'll see you outside." Uncle Jake said.

Sabrina's eyes widened with fear when she heard a loud hiss on the other side of the wall. It sounded like something was talking.

"Uncle Jake?" She asked worriedly, straining to hear.

"Don't worry about us! Just hurry!" Uncle Jake yelled, his last words almost drowned out by another infuriated hiss.

"C'mon, Sabrina, we need to go before the uglies come down to investigate." Puck said, grabbing her arm but Sabrina wouldn't budge. She stood still, desperately trying to figure out what was happening on the other side.

"Sabrina," Puck said, grabbing her hand. Sabrina looked at him, trying to ignore the little bolts of lighting that ran up her arm when he touched her.

"The only thing we can do to help them is to get out of here alive." Puck said, his emerald green eyes uncharacteristically serious.

Sabrina stared at him for a moment before nodding her head. For once, Puck was right. The only thing she could do was escape and pray that her uncle and sister would be alright.

Puck grinned, his seriousness quickly being replaced with excitement. "Now let's go get us some demon hide."

"Puck!" Sabrina snapped.

Puck grinned at her. "Just kidding!" He said as he ran up the stairs.

After a moment of hesitation, Sabrina grabbed the torch off the wall, casting one last look over her shoulder at the wall that separated her from her little sister. She said a quick prayer for the safety of Uncle Jake and Daphne before following the fairy-boy up the stairs.

**!**

The demon kneeled, shaking as violently as a leaf during a thunderstorm, his last words still echoing in the eerily quiet room as another explosion shook the castle.

_Humans escaped . . . escaped . . . escaped. . ._

He looked up, carefully making sure he kept his head bowed, and risked a glance at his queen.

She sat completely still on her throne, her red eyes staring ahead into nothing. Her long black claws dug into the arms of the throne so hard the black stone started to crack.

He tried to figure out what emotion was raging inside those red eyes so he could determine what punishment he would receive for being the one to bring her this news.

Without warning, those red eyes locked onto him and he knew exactly what punishment he was going to get.

As quick as lightning the Demon Queen struck and the demon hit the floor with a THUMP, the life leaking out of his eyes.

Jezebel stood over the dead demon, breathing heavily.

_The humans have escaped._

She tossed her head back and shrieked, the sound bouncing off the walls, making it sound like a thousand demons were shrieking.

When the sound finally died, she glared around the room at all the demons that had stood rooted to the spot, fearful that their queen was going to turn her anger on them.

"WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?" Jezebel shrieked. "Go find the humans and bring them to me!"

The demons ran out of the room, shoving and knocking each other in their haste to get out of the room and away from the furious queen.

Jezebel watched them leave, raging animosity bubbling up inside of her. This time she didn't push the anger away, instead she embraced it as she walked out of the room, carelessly stepping on the dead servant on her way out.

She didn't expect her worthless servants to catch any of the humans; they had already proved themselves to be inept in that area. She couldn't believe they had let the humans escape!

Her hands curled into fists. When she was finished with the humans, she was going to make sure all her slaves were severely punished.

But first she had to deal with the humans and that fairy.

Her red eyes, the only thing visible as she walked down the dark hallway, narrowed into angry slits. She was going to kill those worthless humans as slowly as possible and then hang their bones outside the castle, the perfect warning to all those who thought they could mess with the Demon Queen.

**!**

While they had been talking to Sabrina and Puck, Uncle Jake had pulled a small sphere out of his pocket. As soon as the orb escaped the fabric, it started to emit a soft glow, growing brighter and brighter by the second until it was as bright as a light bulb, pushing the shadows back against the wall.

Though she tried not to show it, Daphne was glad that Uncle Jake had that glowing ball. The impenetrable darkness had started to freak her out.

While Uncle Jake was telling Sabrina and Puck to meet him outside, Daphne started looking around. The glowing sphere lit up a small circle around her and her uncle, but just outside the circle the darkness crouched like an animal.

Daphne stared into the unfathomable darkness, shoving her fear away. She was a Bad Apple and Bad Apple's were never afraid. Then she saw the two red eyes glaring at her from the shadows.

"Uncle Jake!" Daphne said, her voice barely above a whisper as the demon hissed from the shadows.

Uncle Jake spun around, pushing Daphne behind him when he saw the red eyes.

"Did you think you could jusssst essscape?" The demon hissed, still staying invisible in the shadows.

"Don't worry about us! Just hurry!" Uncle Jake yelled just as the demon lunged.

Uncle Jake jumped to the side, taking Daphne with him as he avoided the demon. They hit the ground hard, the orb and sack of explosive rocks flying from her uncle's hands.

Daphne winced when the sack hit the ground but apparently the fabric stopped the rocks from exploding.

"Get the rocks!" Uncle Jake whispered in her ear, all the time keeping his eye trained on the demon. "I'll deal with him."

Daphne nodded her head and started to crawl towards the sack, trying to stick to the shadows to avoid being seen by the demon but the demon didn't look at her. Its red eyes were locked onto Uncle Jake, the biggest one out of the two, so therefore the biggest threat.

Uncle Jake slowly stood up, glaring right back at the demon, his hand stealthily searching inside his pockets for some kind of weapon. Before he could find one, the demon let out another roar and lunged at him, sharp claws extended.

Uncle Jake quickly stepped to the side, sticking out his foot and tripping the demon so that it slammed into the wall.

The demon shook its head, a hiss of pain escaping from its lips before it turned to face Jake, its red eyes filled with hate. The demon lunged at Uncle Jake again but this time, in his haste to avoid being scratched by the poisonous claws, Uncle Jake tripped, falling heavily onto the stone floor.

Daphne reached the sack just as Uncle Jake hit the floor. Horror filled her when she saw the demon standing over her uncle, a triumphant smile on its face as it swung its claws towards her uncle's throat.

"_Shefti feolt!" _Daphne screamed.

The demon's claw stopped inches from Uncle Jake's head. It looked up at her, confusion and anger in its red eyes.

While the demon was staring at her, Uncle Jake pulled his legs up to his chest and then kicked the demon as hard as he could.

The demon flew back and slammed into the wall, falling to the floor with a THUMP!

Uncle Jake picked a stone off the floor as the demon was getting up and smashed it against the demon's head. There was a sickening crack and the demon flopped back onto the floor, completely motionless.

For a few seconds the only sound was Uncle Jake's heavy breathing and then he looked over at Daphne.

"How do you know how to speak Faerie?" Uncle Jake asked.

"Puck taught me." Daphne said, picking up the sack and the glowing orb. "He said that was something you said that made people really mad but he wouldn't tell me what it meant. I don't think even he knew what it meant."

Uncle Jake stared at her for a moment and then laughed. "Don't ever say something that boy teaches you." He said, walking over to her and taking the sack and orb.

"Hey," She said, grinning at him. "That saved your life."

Uncle Jake chuckled. "Remind me to thank him after I strangle him for teaching you that."

"You should have seen Prince Charming's face when I said that to him." Daphne said as she followed her uncle down the hall.

Uncle Jake grinned. "Now that I wish I had seen."

They walked on in silence then, keeping their ears and eyes peeled for anymore demons. Daphne stayed close to her uncle, every muscle in her body tense, ready incase a demon jumped out of the shadows.

The hall ended in a set of stairs that winded above their heads. Uncle Jake held up the glowing orb but no matter how high he held it they couldn't see where the stairs ended . . . or who might be hiding up there.

"Stay right behind me." Uncle Jake said, handing her the sack of explosive rocks. "And hold these."

Daphne gripped the sack tightly in her hand and she followed her uncle up the stairs, wincing as the sound of their steps echoed around them.

The stairs ended in a long hallway with doors on each side. Daphne looked around at the dark hallway, a frown on her face.

"I don't think these guys are into decorating.' She said while Uncle Jake walked over to a door.

He pressed his ear against the wood, listening for any sounds. When he heard none he opened the door and held the glowing orb inside.

"Whoa." Daphne said, her eyes widening to the size of plates. "Look at all that!"

The room was filled with magical items of all shapes and sizes, stacked in haphazard piles all over the room. There were swords, creepy looking masks, shiny jewelry, and . . . a red sock monkey.

"Where do you think they got all this?" Daphne asked, stepping around her uncle and into the room. She immediately felt magic wash over her as she looked at all the magic-do-hickies that crowded the small room.

"Probably from all the people they . . . they stole it." Uncle Jake said staring around in amazement at the room. "Don't mess with that." Uncle Jake said when he saw her reach for the sock monkey.

Daphne pulled her hand away from it. "What does it do?" She asked, imagining all the ways the monkey could be dangerous.

Uncle Jake shrugged, "I don't know but I'd rather not find out." He walked over to another pile, muttering, "I hate monkeys."

Daphne stepped away from the monkey and picked up a jar of what looked like multi-colored jelly-beans. "Why would they steal jelly beans?"

"Don't eat those," Uncle Jake said quickly. "They'll turn your skin whatever color they are."

Daphne grinned, imagining her mother's face if she came home with green skin and purple poke-a-dots.

"Do you think we should take some with us?" Daphne asked, looking over at her uncle.

Uncle Jake shook his head as he stared around at the magical objects. "I have no idea what most of these do." He said. "And we don't have enough time to find out what they do."

"But what about that one?" Daphne asked, pointing to a sharp looking sword.

"For all I know that'll turn you into a pink dog with blue tentacles." Uncle Jake said, nodding his head at the door. "C'mon, we need to hurry."

Daphne took one last look at the sword; she wouldn't mind being a cute doggie with tentacles. She turned to follow Uncle Jake but froze when she saw a demon standing in the doorway, blocking their way out.

"Where do you think you're going?" It hissed, eyeing them malevolently.

Daphne screamed, reaching over and picking up the sword. She felt magic surge up her arms as she pointed the sword at the demon.

The demon smirked at her. "You think you can fight me, little . . ."

Before it could finish the sentence, a bolt of flame shot out of the sword and slammed into the demons chest, knocking it against the wall.

There was a long moment of silence and then:

"Gravy!"

"Okay," Uncle Jake said slowly. "We can keep the sword."

"Really?" Daphne said, spinning around to face him.

"Whoa!" Uncle Jake said, jumping to stay out of the sword's line of fire. "Just be careful where you point that thing!"

"Oh, sorry." Daphne said sheepishly, carefully pointing the sword away from her uncle.

She followed Uncle Jake out the door and back into the hallway. "How are we going to find our way out of here?" She asked.

"We going to blow that wall up," Uncle Jake said, pointing to the wall at the end of the hallway. "And pray that it'll lead us outside."

"You're not going anywhere!"

Daphne gasped as seven demons stepped out of the shadows, materializing in front of them.

"The Queen wissshessss to ssssspeak to you two."

Daphne and Uncle Jake spun around to find more demons standing behind them. Daphne felt fear bubble up inside of her as she stared at all those malicious red eyes.

They were surrounded.

"I'm sorry, but we've really got to go." Uncle Jake said, holding the sack with the explosive rocks.

Daphne pointed her sword as she and her uncle stood back to back, staring down the demons that surrounded her.

The little girl's grip on the sword tightened and she let out her battle cry as the demons lunged towards her.

**!**

Sabrina ran close behind Puck, keeping her eyes open for any demons. So far they hadn't run into any but they also hadn't found a way out. Every hallway looked the same, making her fear that they were walking around in circles.

"Didn't we just pass that staircase?" She whispered, gripping the torch tighter in her hand.

Puck stopped and looked at the staircase, running his hand through his hair, frustration written on his face. "How the heck do you get out of this place?"

"You don't."

Sabrina and Puck spun around at the sound of the hissing voice to find a demon standing just a few feet away from them.

"Now, why don't you be good food and come with me." The demon hissed as it slowly walked towards them.

Suddenly the castle shook violently as a loud BOOM echoed down the hall.

The demon stopped and tilted its head slightly. "Wha . . ." It started but Sabrina didn't give it a chance to finish.

She lunged forward and shoved the torch into the demon's face. The demon hissed in pain, stepping back and knocking the torch out of Sabrina's hand just as Puck smacked his sword on its head.

The demon crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

And then the torch went out.

Paralyzing fear gripped Sabrina as impenetrable darkness pressed around her, threatening to choke her. She couldn't help but jump when something grabbed her hand, her heart feeling like it was about to burst out of her chest.

"Sabrina," Puck whispered, trying to keep his voice clear of the fear that was twisting his gut. "It's just me. Take my hand; I think I've got an idea."

Sabrina grabbed his hand, forcing herself to stay calm. She heard a loud burp and then fire flew out of Puck's mouth, briefly illuminating the hall before it died.

That's how they went. Painfully slow, they walked down the hall, Puck blowing out as much flame as he could and Sabrina listening for any demons. Twice they pressed themselves against the wall, desperately hoping that the demons wouldn't see them as the sound of their wings flapping grew louder and louder until they flew right by the children and down the hall.

Twice Sabrina thought she was going to die from relief.

And then they would do it all over again. Walking inch but inch through the castle until they entered a hallway, probably the _only_ hallway, with windows

Five large windows were set on one side of the hallway. The windows were about five feet off the ground and stretched all the way up, stopping about a foot from the ceiling.

Sabrina watched as the moon peeked through the clouds, shining through the windows and bathing the floor in rectangular squares of white light.

"Puck," Sabrina asked, staring up at the windows. "Do you think you can break the glass and fly us out of here?"

Puck looked at the windows and then grinned at Sabrina. "Oh, yeah!" He said, breathing deeply. All that burping had left him feeling lightheaded.

His wings popped out of his back and he flew to the window, balancing on the sill. He stared at the glass for a moment and then his arms transformed into the arms of a gorilla. He punched the glass as hard as he could, covering his face with his other arm as the glass shattered.

He turned to look at her, grinning crookedly. "C'mon . . ." he started but stopped when a voice as cold as ice echoed from the other end of the hall.

"You two aren't going anywhere."

Sabrina looked up, cold fear griping her when she saw a demon coming towards them from the other end of the hall. But she could tell by the way the demon stood straight, demanding all the attention, and by the menacing air that rolled off of it, that it wasn't just any demon.

It was the Demon Queen.

"Did you really think you could escape?" Jezebel hissed, her eyes liquid pools of hate, pinning them to the spot as she walked towards them. Every time the demon stepped under the moon's light her body changed, morphing into the beautiful woman until she stepped back unto the shadows.

Sabrina stared at the Demon Queen, fear freezing her to the spot. She heard the saying that the eyes were the windows to a person's soul but those fiery red eyes glaring at her from across the hall were more like burning windows to Hell.

"Sabrina! C'mon!"

Sabrina turned her eyes away from the demon to see Puck holding his hand out to her, ready to pull her up onto the window sill.

"Oh, no you don't." Jezebel hissed and then she opened her mouth wide and a high-pitched, inhuman shriek filled the air.

Sabrina screamed and pressed her hands over her ears as the sound grated against her eardrums, barely aware of Puck stumbling and falling onto the floor beside her.

"I'm going to make sure you never see the light of day again!" Jezebel hissed, finally stopping that horrible shrieking.

Sabrina gasped as the demon, without warning, lunged toward her, poisonous claws outstretched to kill the girl . . . until a wooden sword smacked her in the face.

"Leave her alone!" Puck yelled, stepping between Sabrina and Jezebel.

"You little brat." Jezebel hissed, glaring daggers at the fairy. "I'm going to enjoy killing you."

"Ya gotta catch me first." Puck taunted, smirking as he flapped his wings, smacking the demon on the head before flying up towards the roof.

Jezebel screamed in fury, her black wings popping out her back, and flew after the fairy.

Sabrina watched as they flew around above her head, the demon slashing with her claws and Puck quickly blocking them. She knew the fairy wouldn't be able to keep dodging those claws for long.

She looked around quickly, trying to find something that she could use as a weapon. A rock or a stick or maybe . . .

A piece of glass!

Sabrina ran over and picked up a piece of the broken window, wincing as the sharp sides dug into her skin.

Just then she heard a shout of surprise. She looked up just in time to see Puck's wing clip the wall. The fairy fell to the ground, the breath knocking out of him when he hit the hard floor.

The Demon Queen landed beside him and shrieked in triumph as she lifted a claw to finish him off.

Sabrina let out a yell and charged at the demon. She jumped onto the monster's back, stabbing the piece of glass as hard as she could into the scaly flesh.

Jezebel shrieked in pain and started to swing around in an attempt to get the girl off of her back.

Sabrina held on for dear life, trying to think of a way to let go of the demon without being chopped to bits.

Without warning, the demon stepped back hard against the wall, squashing Sabrina against the hard surface. Sabrina let go of the demon as pain wrapped around her ribs and fell onto her hands and knees on the floor.

"You little brat!" Jezebel shrieked, glaring at Sabrina as black blood oozed out of the cut on her shoulder. Before she could lunge of Sabrina though, Puck hit her in the back with his sword.

"People really need to learn to cover their butts." He said, laughing.

Jezebel swung around and grabbed the fairy before he could fly away. Before Sabrina could stand up, or even blink, the Demon Queen stabbed her poison coated claws deep into Puck's stomach.


	10. Numb

**A/N-**

**Curlscat- Oh, I see how it is. You're gonna keep your brains to yourself, is that it? Huh? Whatever. Whatever. ;)**

**Lara D- Thank you! That review made me happy! =D**

**ILoveGeorgeCooper- Thanks! Sorry that the characters are OOC. I guess I tend to lean away from the books . . . a lot. =D**

**Thanks to everyone else who reviewed! =D I'm sorry if some parts of this chapter are . . .bleh but I hope you like it!  
**

!

Most seven year old girls spent their nights playing with dolls, playing dress up or watching princess movies.

Not Daphne Grimm. She spent her nights fighting off monsters with a sword that shot out lighting.

Truthfully, it was a lot scarier but a lot more fun than watching action movies.

"HIYAH!" She shouted, swinging the sword at the demon lunging towards her. A bolt of energy shot out of the sword and slammed into the demon. The demon flew back with a shriek and slammed against the wall but for every demon that fell, two more took its place.

_This isn't working._ Daphne thought, desperately trying to keep the demons away from her. She could tell from the grunts of frustration and the way he'd occasionally cry, "Just die!" that her uncle was facing the same problem she was.

_We need something better. _Daphne thought, her eyes sliding to the door that led to the room with all the magic objects.

She ducked under the claws of a demon and ran to the door, swinging her sword around wildly and screaming like a maniac.

She grabbed the handle and flung the door open, quickly jumping inside and closing the door behind her. She leaned her back against it, feeling it shudder beneath her as the demons slammed into it, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break through the thick stone door.

Daphne looked around the room, trying to find something that could defeat the demons. Her eyes passed over many strange objects and then landed on the red sock monkey. She didn't know what it did but Uncle Jake had gone as pale as a ghost when he saw it and if it scared Uncle Jake, it had to be powerful.

Daphne took a deep breath, counted to three, and then pushed away from the door. She ran as fast as she could to the monkey, the sound of the demons opening the door behind her giving her speed.

She grabbed the monkey and turned to face the demons.

A memory suddenly popped in her head. One of the times she and Puck had stayed up and watched a movie on Granny Relda's old T.V. The movie hadn't been that interesting but there was a commercial that kept coming on, a preview for some movie that had a bunch of monsters and Zeus in it. There was one line in the preview that Puck and Daphne loved. Ever since she saw the preview, she'd been waiting for the perfect opportunity to say it.

Now seemed like a good time.

"RELEASE THE MONKEY!" Daphne screamed and threw the monkey towards the demons.

The sock monkey flew through the air, arms and legs flailing all over the place, and started to glow. Before it reached the demons, there was a loud POP and suddenly a giant, red sock monkey stood in front of the monsters.

The red monkey and the demons regarded each other for a moment, trying to gauge if they were enemies. Then the monkey shrieked, revealing dagger sharp teeth, and lunged at the nearest demon.

The giant sock monkey grabbed the monster by the arm and slammed it into the wall. The demon smacked the wall with a sickening crack and fell to the floor.

The insane monkey charged at the rest of the demons, throwing them against walls, biting them, smacking them against each other, all the while shrieking. The demons, soon realizing that their poison had no effect on the sock monkey, began to shriek in panic, shoving each other over in their desperate attempt to get out of the enraged monkey's path.

Daphne watched, flabbergasted, as the sock monkey easily sliced through the demons that blocked the door, killing everything that came in sight until all the demons lay motionless on the floor.

The monkey looked down at its fallen enemies and shrieked again before charging out the room, Daphne quickly following it.

Uncle Jake, after making sure the last demon was actually dead, quickly spun around. He'd heard horrible shrieking coming from behind him and he couldn't block the thought that Daphne might be hurt. But when he turned around, there was no one in the hallway.

Uncle Jake frowned, opening his mouth to call her name, when a giant, red monkey came barreling out of the magic room.

The monkey and Uncle Jake stared at each other and then Uncle Jake let out a very unmanly scream. He reached into the bag and started chucking explosive rocks at the giant mammal. He kept screaming as he backed up into the wall, throwing rock, after rock, after rock until he reached his hand into the bag and realized he had used them all.

He stood, his back against the wall, shaking and panting as the dust settled down.

Daphne stuck her head out of the magic room and walked over to what remained of the sock monkey. Only an arm, a leg, and its tail, all reduced to sock monkey size, remained.

Daphne stared down at the remains and then up at her pale uncle. "You killed it."

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Uncle Jake shouted as Daphne reached down to pick up the leg.

Daphne pulled back her hand and looked at her uncle. He was pale and shaking and it looked like he was about to hyperventilate.

A slow smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "Are you afraid of monkeys, Uncle Jake?" She asked, trying not to smile.

Uncle Jake huffed, running his hand through his blonde hair. "Of course not!' He said, unconvincingly.

"You know, this lady on a talk show Puck and I watch, she said that you should always admit when you're afraid and not bottle it all up." Daphne said, giving up on trying to suppress her smile.

Uncle Jake glared at her. "I. Am. Not. Afraid. Of. Monkeys." He said.

"Good," Daphne said, her smile widening. "Because I'm pretty sure I saw a blue one in there."

"NO!" Uncle Jake shouted. "Fine, I may be slightly afraid of monkeys but that's your father's fault. He's the one that told me to sneak into the monkey cage and pet Bobo." Uncle Jake said, turning around to study the wall behind him. "Bobo did _not _want to be petted." He muttered, shivering at the memory.

"It's okay, Uncle Jake." Daphne said, walking over to her uncle. "Puck's afraid of penguins."

Uncle Jake grinned at her. "Can I see that sword?" He asked.

"How are we gonna get out of here?" Daphne asked, passing him the sword.

"Same way we normally get out of places." Uncle Jake said, taking a few steps away from the wall. He looked at her and smiled.

"We blast our way out."

!

Time seemed to slow, taking on a surreal feel as Sabrina watched Puck's eyes grow wide with shock and pain.

"Got you." Jezebel whispered before savagely shoving him against the wall, grinning as he collapsed onto the floor.

It was only then that Sabrina realized she was screaming. The scream died on her lips as she stared at the crumpled body of Puck, shock making her shake uncontrollably.

_Puck was dead._

NO! This was a trick! It had to be trick. Sabrina stared at Puck, waiting for him to jump up with that cocky grin on his face. He always got up! She stared at him, willing him to move, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach and the voice in her head that told her he wasn't going to get up this time.

"Aw, is the poor human sad?"

Sabrina looked up at the sound of that mocking voice and the sight of those heartless red eyes snapped her back to reality. She quickly grabbed the bloody piece of glass and jumped to her feet.

"Back off." She snarled, blood pounding in her ears.

Jezebel stopped and looked at her, a smirk playing on her lips. "Now that's not very nice." She said, her smirk turning into a smile as she stepped under the window. Scaly skin turned pure white and red hair flowed out of her scalp as the moon's white light bathed over the demon.

The woman smiled kindly at Sabrina. "Come here, child." She said, her voice silky smooth. "I can help you."

Sabrina took a step away from the woman and shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the fog that had suddenly crept in, blocking all reason.

"No," She muttered, a frown on her face as she tried to think straight. "Puck . . ."

"Is gone." The woman said, a sticky sweet smile plastered on her face as she held her hand out. "You're all alone now. Let me help you."

_You're all alone now._

The words circled around Sabrina's head and a sudden realization snapped her out of the spell.

No. She wasn't alone. She was never alone anymore.

Ever since her parents had disappeared, she had been carrying around this fear deep inside her, the fear that everyone was going to abandon her, just like her parents had. That when she stopped being useful, they were all going to leave her alone, just like most of the people who had adopted her. That, whenever she stopped doing the dishes, or cleaning up after their fifty million cats, they'd throw her and Daphne out of their lives to fend for themselves.

But that wasn't true anymore.

Now she had Granny Relda, Mr. Canis, Red, and her parents, who were waiting for her back at the camp. She had Daphne and Uncle Jake, who were counting on her to get out of the castle.

She had Puck.

And that monster in front of her was trying to kill her family. Trying to kill _her. _Well, it was soon going to find out that Sabrina Grimm wasn't going down without a fight.

"NO!" She shouted and swung her arm out, the piece of glass cutting a jagged line down the woman's face.

The woman screamed and stumbled back, stepping out of the light and into the shadows.

Jezebel glared at her from the shadows, black blood oozing out of the cut that stretched from the corner of her eye to her chin.

"Face it." The Demon Queen hissed, her eyes narrowing angrily. "You lost! As we speak, my slaves have already caught your other two friends and the fairy's dead. You might as well give up."

Sabrina shook her head and gripped the piece of glass so hard drops of warm blood slid down her arm. If there was one thing these past two years have taught her, it was that, whether she liked it or not, she was a Grimm.

And Grimms _never_ gave up.

"No." Sabrina snapped, body tensing and blue eyes narrowing as she waited for the demon to strike.

"I was hoping you would say that." Jezebel said, a sinister smile on her face. "It's no fun killing something that doesn't fight back."

The demon suddenly hissed and lunged forward. Sabrina quickly ducked, wincing at the sound of the demon's claws scrapping against the stone wall, and stabbed the piece of glass into Jezebel's shin.

Jezebel shrieked in rage and lashed out at the girl as Sabrina was scrambling away. The blow hit Sabrina in the side, knocking her back onto the floor and sending her sliding into the wall.

Sabrina quickly stood up and looked at her side. The side of her jacket was shredded but the demon's claws hadn't touched her skin.

She looked up as the Demon Queen walked towards her, the claws on her feet clicking against the black stone floor.

"Did you really think you weak humans could get away?" Jezebel hissed, glaring at Sabrina as the girl backed away from her. "I am the Demon Queen! NO ONE gets away from me!"

Just then a loud BOOM echoed down the hall and the castle shook so violently that it knocked both of them off their feet.

"Well, it looks like the weak humans are destroying your castle." Sabrina snapped, quickly standing up.

Jezebel screamed in rage and lunged at the girl, managing to grab hold of Sabrina's jacket before she could run away.

Sabrina closed her eyes, waiting to feel claws dig into her skin when the demon suddenly hissed in pain. Jezebel quickly let go of Sabrina's jacket and jumped back as if she had been burnt.

"What magic is this?" Jezebel hissed, glaring daggers at Sabrina.

Sabrina looked at the demon in confusion and then down at her jacket, her eyes widening in shock.

Her jacket was glowing! Or at least the thing inside her jacket was glowing.

Sabrina shoved her hand into her pocket, keeping an eye on the demon in case she made a move, and pulled out the Phoenix feather.

The feather was glowing so brightly that it lit up the whole hallway and it was hot too, the warmth quickly causing beads of sweat to form on Sabrina's forehead and once again that sense of tranquility washed over her.

Jezebel hissed and took a step back, her eyes narrowing. "How did you get that?" She snarled, taking another step back.

Sabrina looked at the Demon Queen and realized with a shock that there was fear in the monster's eyes.

"What?" Sabrina said with courage that she didn't feel, taking a step forward and holding the feather out in front of her. "Is the big bad Demon Queen afraid of a weak human with a feather?"

The Demon Queen hissed, flexing her hands, her black claws glinting in the light. Unbridled rage filled her, turning the edges of her vision red. Those humans not only escaped but were destroying her castle and, worst of all, this _child_ had the audacity to threaten HER! This time she didn't push back her anger, this time she let it rage through her. A low growl rumbled at the back of her throat as the Demon Queen glared death at the girl.

"Let's see how brave you look after I kill you!" She snarled and as quick as lightning lunged at the girl.

Sabrina gasped, tripping over her feet as she backed away. She hit the floor hard, all the air whooshing out of her lungs and before she could move the Demon Queen was on top of her, one hand holding her down, the other swinging towards her head.

_**The cut!**_

Without warning, the voice popped into her head and without even knowing why, her arm shot out towards the demon, jabbing the quill of the feather into the wound on Jezebel's shoulder.

An ear-splitting shriek filled the air as Jezebel jerked away from Sabrina, desperately yanking the feather out of her shoulder but it was already too late.

Sabrina watched in horror as the skin around the demon's shoulder started to glow, the glow spreading until it covered her whole body.

The Demon Queen shrieked again as she started to glow brighter and brighter. The demon took a step towards Sabrina; hate filled eyes locked onto her, one hand stretching out to grab the girl until she got so bright that Sabrina was forced to close her eyes. A bright light flashed against Sabrina's eyelids and the shrieking suddenly stopped.

Sabrina slowly opened her eyes, breathing hard, and found herself staring at a pile of ashes where the Demon Queen had stood.

She sat there for what felt like hours, shaking from shock and fear, until a strained chuckle reached her ears.

"Death by feather. Awesome."

Sabrina's eyes widened. "PUCK!" She shouted, crawling over to him. She couldn't believe it! He was still alive!

Sabrina kneeled beside him, trying to ignore the trepidation that filled her as she looked over him. He was ghostly pale, his face beaded with sweat. His body shook from the waves of pain that shot through him, and the front of his green hoodie was covered in blood

"You're alive!" She said, grinning at him in an attempt to hide the dread that was quickly filling her.

He looked at her and winked, his wink turning into a wince as another wave of pain washed over him.

Puck held out a fist and slowly opened his hand. Sabrina looked and saw the potion bottle resting on his palm . . . but there was something different about it. A new color had been added to the ingredients floating inside; dark green.

Demon venom.

Sabrina looked at Puck; a wide grin was plastered on his pale face. "Sucker." He said, chuckling softly.

"But . . . but . . . how . . . when did you . . ." Sabrina stammered, quickly taking off her jacket and pressing it against his wound, trying to stop the flood of blood that was leaking through.

"Got it . . . out of . . . the cut." Puck gasped, his face twisting in pain.

She felt his body tense under her and he leaned forward till he was almost curled up into a ball as if that would help him escape the pain. She waited until he loosened up before speaking. "C'mon, we need to go."

Puck shook his head, breathing heavily. "Can't . . . you go." He said.

"I'm not leaving you." Sabrina snapped, ignoring him when he shook his head again. She wrapped her arms under his armpits and dragged him as gently as she could across the floor, quickly setting him down when he screamed in pain.

"I'm sorry, Puck." She said, holding back tears as she watched him bite his lip to keep himself from screaming again. She took a deep breath, forcing her tears back. There was no need to cry because Puck was going to make it. "But we have to go!"

"I'll . . .slow . . .down . . .gotta . . . Jake . . . bottle . . . before . . . too late!" Puck choked out, holding the bottle out to her in a violently shaking hand.

Sabrina grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. "I'm not leaving you here!" She said, stubbornly. She reached down to pick him up again.

She wasn't going to leave him!

Puck's face scrunched up in pain and his arms and legs turned into that of a gorilla, the added weight making it impossible for Sabrina to pick him up.

"PUCK!" She shouted, frustrated. "Stop it! I'm not leaving you!"

Puck shook his head weakly. "Slow . . .you down." He repeated stubbornly.

The castle shook again, this time bits of rock fell down around them, showing them with dust.

Sabrina stared at him, fear clenching her heart. He looked so weak and pale. She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to get him out of the castle but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't think of one.

Maybe if she ran out fast enough, she could find Uncle Jake and they could come back for him before the castle collapsed.

Puck grinned up at her weakly as his arms and legs turned back to normal. "I'll . . . be fine."

Even though she knew it wouldn't change anything, she whispered, "You promise? Because if you don't, I'm gonna have to beat you to a pulp."

Puck looked at her, the crooked grin that she wouldn't admit she loved on his face. "Promise . . . I'm . . . Trickster King . . .ember? . . . villain . . ."

"Of the worst kind." Sabrina whispered, squeezing his hand one last time before taking the bottle and forcing herself to stand up. She had to hurry and find Uncle Jake before it was too late.

She ran over to the broken window, sliding the potion bottle into her pocket, wiping her hands on her jeans to get rid of the red, sticky stuff, before standing on her tiptoes and grabbing the edge of the sill.

"Sabrina?"

Sabrina carefully turned around and stared at Puck.

Puck looked up at her, his green eyes mixed with pain and hesitation. "Sabrina . . .I . . . ." he started and then stopped.

Sabrina looked at him. She knew what he was going to say. Part of her desperately wanted him to say it and another part of her didn't because he'd only say that if he thought he was . . . was . . .

"I . . . you still . . . owe me seven . . . million bucks, barf-brain." Puck finally panted, grinning weakly up at her.

"Meet me back at the camp, stink-bottom, and I'll give it to you." Sabrina whispered before turning and pulling herself onto the windowsill.

Sabrina looked over the edge of the window and down at ground, the word _hurry_ running in circles in her head. She frowned, she was too high up to jump without risking broken bones. She turned around; ready to jump off and look for another way out, when a big explosion shook the castle, knocking Sabrina off balance.

Sabrina swung her arms out, trying to steady herself as the ground beneath her shook. She instinctively took a step back and instead of rock her foot met nothing but air. Sabrina screamed as she fell off the ledge, the wind screaming in her ears, and closed her eyes, waiting to smack the hard ground.

She landed with an _UMPH!_ on the hard ground, the breath knocked out of her. She lay still, trying to regain her breath, her face pressed against the smooth ground . . .

The _smooth _ground?

Sabrina eyes snapped opened and she gasped when she saw the sea of blue scales beneath her. She sat up, her eyes widening in amazement when she realized that she was flying on the back of, not just any dragon, but the Blue Dragon.

"Don't worry, I've got you." The Blue Dragon's familiar voice filled her ears, her scales rumbling underneath Sabrina as she talked. "And my friend has got your uncle and sister."

Sabrina turned around to see her uncle and sister jumping out of a hole they must have blown into the wall and onto the back of an orange dragon.

"How . . . why did you come?" Sabrina stammered.

"To destroy the demons." An angry, but familiar voice rumbled behind her. Sabrina turned to find herself staring at the Black Dragon.

"And to help you humans." The Blue Dragon said.

The Black Dragon mumbled something incoherently but sighed when the Blue Dragon glared at him. "And to help you humans." He muttered.

"But, how did you know we were in trouble?" Sabrina asked. Did the dragons have some sort of sixth sense or something like that?

"They may have gotten a hint."

Sabrina looked over to find herself staring into the warm, fiery red eyes of the Phoenix. The Phoenix was in her human form, effortlessly gliding through the air without the aid of wings, her cloak streaming behind her making her look like a superhero.

"SABRINA!" Daphne screamed, waving at her from the back of the orange dragon as it caught up to the Blue one. "You should have seen it! I got a sword that shot out fire and then there was a giant monkey and . . ." The little girl was practically bouncing up and down from excitement, despite the fact that she had just fought a group of demons. Without finishing her sentence, she looked at the dragons and the Phoenix. "Thanks for saving us!" The little girl said and bit down hard on her palm. "You guys are the graviest!"

"Glad to know I'm the best thing to pour on meat." The Phoenix said, raising a questioning eyebrow at the little girl.

Hope filled Sabrina, now that the dragons were here, they could defiantly save Puck and the Phoenix could heal him too! She opened her mouth but was cut off by a loud shriek. She looked up and the sight made her blood run cold.

Demons, a ton of them, were flying around the castle's towers. Even from where she was she could tell they were mad, mad and panicked by the way they flew in haphazard circles.

But why shouldn't they panic? Their queen, their leader, was dead. But through the haze of confusion and panic that filled their minds, one thought burst through.

_Kill the humans._

The demons shrieked as one, a horrible sound that filled the valley, and nose-dived straight towards Sabrina and the others.

Another roar, this one much louder than the demons', echoed across the valley. Sabrina looked up just in time to see a huge dragon fly over their heads, its huge body casting a large shadow on the valley. The dragon did a back-flip in the air and smacked a few demons with its tail.

"How many dragons did you bring?" Sabrina yelled over the wind as more dragons flew over her head.

But even with the dragons, some of the demons made it past them and continued their dive towards the humans, not caring that their fellows were being destroyed around them.

"HANG ON!" The Blue Dragon roared.

Sabrina held on as tightly as she could, her stomach rolling as the Blue Dragon twisted onto her back in the air, slashing at the demons with her claws.

Sabrina fought back the urge to puke as the Blue Dragon righted herself. She quickly looked around for any sign of Daphne and Uncle Jake as the angry shrieks and roars of the demons and dragons filled her ears.

She spotted them still on the back of the Orange Dragon. Both of them were fighting off the swarm of demons that surrounded the dragon, Daphne shooting flames out of a sword and Uncle Jake firing purple mist out of a ring on his hand. The purple mist stuck to the demons like glue, turning their wings heavy and causing them to stick to each other and tumble to the ground.

Above her head, claws and teeth flashed in the moonlight as dragons and demons collided. So far the dragons were doing a good job of avoiding the demons claws, staying their distance by either hitting the demons with their long tails or shooting them with flames, but Sabrina didn't think that was going to last long.

"Hey!" She shouted to the Blue Dragon, trying to be heard over the wind. "WE NEED TO GO BACK TO THE CAST . . . "

A dragon, who had twisted in midair to avoid a demon's claw, slammed into the Blue Dragon's side as he was trying to right himself. The impact jerked Sabrina to the side. Panic filled her as she slide across the smooth scales. The Blue Dragon tried to right herself but it was too late. Sabrina screamed as she slid over the dragon's side, plummeting down to the ground.

Before she became a pancake on the ground, warm hands grabbed her arms and a voice whispered in her ear. "I got ya."

The Phoenix flew her to the ground, deftly avoiding the dragons and demons that tumbled into their path.

The woman carefully set Sabrina onto the soft earth and landed beside her.

"Your uncle and sister are coming with the magic carpet." The Phoenix said, pointing.

Sabrina followed the woman's finger to see Uncle Jake and Daphne flying close to the ground on the magic carpet, heading towards her.

"Wait!" Sabrina said, turning back to the Phoenix. "We can't leave yet. Puck . . . "

"It's too late, Sabrina." The Phoenix said softly, her warm eyes filled with sadness.

Sabrina stared at the women in shock. "But . . . how did you know?"

A sudden image popped into her head. The Phoenix giving her the feather, a sympathetic look on her face.

_I think you'll be needing this._

_Among other things, I can see the future._

"You knew." Sabrina accused, her voice barely above a whisper, betrayal shoving itself like a knife through her heart. Everything seemed to fade away, the battle above her head, Uncle Jake and Daphne flying towards her, until it felt like it was just her and the Phoenix.

Even with the noise of the battle raging above their heads, the Phoenix heard and she nodded her head.

"You knew all this time and you didn't do anything about it?" Sabrina accused, her voice rising as emotions swirled around inside her; anger, pain, sorrow and now the sting of betrayal. "Why?"

"It's not wise to mess with the future, Sabrina." The Phoenix said, her voice soft. "Things happen for a reason. One day you'll see that."

"Puck's dead! How can that possible be a good thing?" Sabrina all but shouted.

"I don't know! Maybe that was the only way to complete the potion. Maybe if that hadn't happened, there wouldn't be a way to bring Briar back. Maybe then your uncle would have left and maybe he plays an important part in this war. I don't know!" The Phoenix shouted. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again they were filled with pain and regret. "Do you think it was easy for me?" She said, her voice barely audible. "Knowing what was going to happen and yet not able to do anything about it? It is that terrible burden my people carry."

Sabrina stared at the woman, the woman she had once considered to be her friend and now . . . now she didn't know what she was. She was too confused. Too many emotions were raging inside of her, making it impossible for her to know exactly what she was supposed to feel.

The only thing she knew for certain was that Puck was dead.

Puck was dead.

"Sabrina?" The Phoenix said suddenly, looking right into the girl's eyes. "Do you trust me?"

Sabrina stared at the Phoenix.

Puck was dead.

"I don't know." Sabrina whispered and closed her eyes. She didn't want to feel anything anymore. She didn't want to hurt anymore. She just wanted it all to stop.

When she opened her eyes the Phoenix was still staring at her intently.

"Sabrina," The Phoenix said, grabbing her hand. "Things happen for a reason. Okay? Just . . . trust me."

Sabrina pulled her hand out of the Phoenix's grip as Uncle Jake and Daphne reached them.

"C'mon, 'Brina!" Uncle Jake shouted, holding out his hand to pull her on.

Sabrina looked at the Phoenix and shook her head slowly, backing away from the woman, the woman she used to trust, and grabbing Uncle Jake's hand.

As Uncle Jake pulled her onto the carpet she heard the Phoenix whisper. "Maybe one day you'll forgive me."

Uncle Jake steered the carpet towards the shelter of the woods and Daphne hugged her older sister. As Sabrina wrapped her arms around Daphne, the Phoenix's words ran around in her head.

_Maybe one day you'll forgive me._

She doubted that day would ever come.

!

Pain.

Excruciating, fiery pain.

That was all he was aware of. Not the castle shaking. Not the shrieks and roars coming from outside.

Just the pain.

The pain that seared through his body, setting ever muscle and piece of skin on fire. The pain that keep the sweet, darkness of unconsciousness away from him, greedily jerking him back whenever he almost slipped away.

The waves of pain always left him breathing hard and covered in sweat and bought with them, not only pain, but flashes of memory too.

Maybe what they said was true. Your life really did flash before your eyes as you die.

"_What?" The figure of his father loomed over him, hands balled into angry fists at his sides. "What did you say?"_

_Puck looked up at his father. The man was ten times his size and bursting with anger . . .but so was Puck. He couldn't believe Oberon wanted him to do this! But he wouldn't do it. Ever. He was the Trickster King and no one told him what to do._

"_No." Puck said, stubbornly. "I'm not marrying Moth."_

"_Why not, honey?" The voice of his mother come to him from somewhere behind the large, angry bulk of his father. Titania always tried to stop the fighting before it began. Always tried to make everyone happy. "She's really pretty."_

"_And she's insane!" Puck shouted. "She _never_ leaves me alone! She stares at me all the time, which makes it impossible to pull a prank on her! She's even got cooties!" Puck continued, ignoring Oberon's sigh of annoyance. "And I don't want to get married! I'm too young to be subjected to that torture!"_

"_You are over four-thousand years old and you will do as I command!" Oberon roared, his voice shaking the glasses on the table._

_Puck glared up at him and crossed his arms defiantly across his chest. "No."_

_What could Oberon do? He couldn't force him to marry that . . . weird-o._

_A long, heavy silence filled the room. Oberon stared down at his son, anger flashing in his eyes and then drew himself taller._

"_Fine." He said, his voice as cold as steel. "Since you have disobeyed a direct order from your king . . . I have no choice but to banish you from the kingdom."_

_Shocked silence filled the room. Puck looked up at his dad, his eyes wide. _

_Oberon looked down at him, cold indifference replacing the anger in his eyes. "You have until tomorrow to get out and then I never want to see your face in my kingdom again."_

_The Fairy King turned his back on his son and started to walk out of the room. Titania grabbed his arm before he could leave._

"_No!" She shouted, holding him back with surprising strength. "You can't do this! I won't let you do this! Please! He's your son."_

_Oberon jerked his arm out of her hold. "Not anymore." He said, and walked out of the room, not once looking back._

Puck's scream echoed down the hall as another wave crashed through him. His hands balled into fists, digging his fingernails deep into his skin, as if that lesser pain might distract him from the bigger pain.

That had been the last time he had seen his father. Oberon hadn't even come to say goodbye.

If what Sabrina said was true, and he had been sorry, he had done a good job of hiding it.

Puck screamed again, his voice cracking and his back arching as the pain washed through him.

_This was the second week that old lady had brought him food. _

_The first time he saw her, he was going to capture her and force her to be his slave but then she set a plate of food onto the ground and walked away._

_It was then that he decided that something was wrong with her. Who left _food_ out in the middle of the forest? But, finders keepers, losers weepers! It was only until he saw the little green trees that were on the plate that he realized why someone would leave that food out in the woods. Those things were nasty! Not even his pet squirrel would eat those . . . but Fluffy the Destroyer had been dead for a few days._

_After the first few days, she realized he wasn't going to eat the vegetables she left on a plate and started to bring him things like cookies and brownies. _

_He faintly remembered someone telling him that he shouldn't eat things strangers gave him . . . but they smelled so good!_

_The Old Lady (she was really old! She had winkles and everything!) never said anything, even though she knew where he was. She'd look up at the tree where he was cleverly hiding in before walking back the way she came._

_This time, when she looked at the tree, she smiled and he saw something he hadn't seen in a long time in those green eyes._

_Kindness._

_Kindness for someone she didn't know._

_He sat in the tree for a moment, gripping the branches hard, and then jumped down before he could talk himself out of it. He picked up the plate and ran after the woman, shoving brownies into his mouth._

"_Got any ham?" He asked over a mouthful of brownie._

_The Old Lady turned around, not a bit surprised that he had followed her. "No, but I have something much better than ham." She said, her voice light with a strange accent. "Follow me, liebling."_

_He stood still as she started walking again, trying to figure out if he had just been insulted. He shrugged and continued to follow the Old Lady. Who cared if she insulted him? She had something that was better than ham! And not much was better than that._

Puck panted on the ground, pressing his fevered forehead against the cold stone floor. That was the day that had changed his whole life.

He gently touched his blood soaked green hoodie.

That was also the day he met Mr. Canis.

"_I'm royalty." He told the Old Lady, sitting on the table as she bustled around the kitchen. "That means you have to do whatever I say."_

_He looked around at the room. Useless books covered every surface. He had almost had a heart attack when he saw how many the Old Lady had. She even had more in another room. He didn't understand why anyone would want to torture themselves by reading._

_Other than the books, there was a couch, a chair, a small T.V and a rather large dog that drooled a lot._

_There was also a skinny old man who had been glaring at him since he had stepped into the house. Mr. Canis was what the Old Lady had called him._

"_Who shoved a porcupine up your butt?" He asked, glaring back at Mr. Canis._

_Mr. Canis just grunted, his blue eyes taking in the boy's ratty gray jacket and dirty clothes. Without saying a word, the old man stood up and walked out of the house._

"_What's with him?" He asked as the Old Lady walked into the room, carrying a plate of purple meat._

"_Oh, don't worry about him, liebling." The Old Lady said, smiling kindly. "Mr. Canis isn't very talkative."_

_A loud boom sounded from outside and he yelled, pulling out his wooden sword. "OLD LADY! We're under attack! EVERYMAN FOR HIMSELF!"_

_The Old Lady just laughed. "Liebling, calm down. It's just my car."_

"_Oh." He said, putting his sword back and grinning sheepishly. "I knew that."_

_The Old Lady just laughed again and he started to tell her that if you eat vegetables, you'll turn into green zombies._

_Mr. Canis wasn't back until he was leaving. Puck stood on the porch, watching as the old car drove up to the house, smoke billowing out behind it._

_Mr. Canis got out of the car and walked towards the house, carrying a bag. _

"_Stay here." He growled to Puck before walking into the house._

"_I'M ROYALTY! I DON'T TAKE ORDERS FROM PEASANTS!" Puck shouted, but the old man either didn't hear, or didn't care._

_Puck crossed his arms and let out a _hummf, _tapping his foot impatiently, trying to ignore the cold seeping through his jacket. The old man was taking forever. He had just decided to fly away when Mr. Canis came back out, carrying a package._

_The man shoved the brown package into the boy's hands before turning to go back into the house._

"_What's this?" Puck asked._

"_Ham." The old man said before slamming the door._

_Puck looked down at the package. That was a lot of ham._

_He waited until he was sitting on his throne before ripping open the package. A tiny bundle, wrapped in napkins, sat at the top. Puck pulled the napkins open and saw a few pieces of ham, actual ham and not that funky purple meat the Old Lady had, resting inside._

_Puck frowned. If this was all the ham, than what else was inside?_

_He pulled the brown paper farther apart and gasped. He sat, staring for a long time before reaching out and gently touching the soft fabric. _

_He turned and looked through the woods towards the direction of the house, confusion rippling inside of him._

Why would they . . .

_He looked back down at the package and hesitantly reached in to pull it out, as if it might disappear. _

_He held it in front of him, staring in confusion and astonishment at the hoodie._

_The green hoodie._

The pain was getting worse. A lot worse. The waves keep coming faster and faster, each more painful than the last.

He would feel cold one second and then hot another, the sudden changes leaving him feeling nauseated. Deliriousness had settled into his head, making him feel, even as the pain gripped him, that none of this was really happening. That he was really back home. Back with the Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Daphne and Sabrina . . .

"_PUCK!" Sabrina screamed, storming into his room. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

_Puck looked up and grinned when he saw the girl with her orange hair, still dripping wet from the shower, and her green teeth._

"_Aha!" He crowed. "I knew it would work!"_

"_Come here, Puck!" Sabrina shouted angrily, her hands balling into fists. "It's about time your face met my fist!"_

"_C'mon, Grimm!" Puck said, his wings popping out and carrying him out of the enraged girl's fist range. "I was just trying to make you look less ugly." He shook his head as he stared down at her. "But I don't think anything could make you look less ugly."_

_Sabrina screamed in rage and ran after the boy, chasing him around the lake . . ._

Sabrina.

The only reason he covered her with glue, or changed her hair color was because he was trying to make her look less . . . ugh, pretty. Then he wouldn't be distracted from his evil plans by how her blonde hair smelled like strawberries, or how her blue eyes lit up the few times she laughed.

It never worked.

"_I'll . . . be fine."_

"_You promise?"_

"_Promise . . ."_

He had lied. Lied straight through his teeth and he knew it when he had said it. He knew there was no way he was going to make it.

But, hey, he was the Trickster King. King of lies, ruler of misfits and hobgoblins, emperor of pranksters . . . and maybe, kinda, sorta, in love with Sabrina, with her blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, kick-butt attitude, pretty laugh . . .

Bleh. Dieing made you get all mushy.

"_Sabrina?"_

_She turned to stare at him, the moonlight turning her hair silver . . . not that he noticed things like that._

"_Sabrina . . . I . . ." He hesitated. What was he doing? _

_Grimm just kept looking at him, with an unreadable expression on her face._

_I love you._

"_I . . .you still owe me seven million bucks, barf brain." He choked out._

"_Meet me back at the camp, stink-bottom, and I'll give it to you."_

_And then she was gone._

Yep. He was the Trickster King. The big mighty Trickster King that couldn't even tell a girl he liked her.

Puck snorted, the movement sending daggers of pain across his body.

_Oh yeah, Sabrina, by the way, the devilishly handsome, but dieing, fairy is in love with you._

That would have gone down well.

He stared up at the ceiling, the air growing thick around him.

Maybe it was for the best that he hadn't told her. Besides, who was he kidding? She was probably going to find some normal, _human_ boy to marry, future wedding or no. She'd already made it clear that she didn't want to marry him . . . right after he freaked out about it.

But he didn't want that. He didn't want somebody to tell him what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and who he was going to marry.

That was exactly the reason why he got kicked out of Faerie.

Pain stabbed through him but he was too weak to scream. He curled into a ball, tears leaking through his eyes as the pain intensified with each short breath.

His dad and the Grimms were completely different. His dad had pushed him hard, expecting too much of him, yelling and screaming and trying to mold him into the perfect son.

But the Grimms . . . they seemed to actually _care_. They took care of him and were nice to him _before_ they had even known him. They didn't spend time with him because they wanted something from him, like so many other people back at Faerie. They did it because they . . . they . . . loved him.

He was hardly aware of the pain now. It was as if everything had gone hazy and he was just floating around in the air, names running around in his head.

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

He wished he could thank them. Thank them for not caring if he was smelly or dirty. Thank them for not caring if he wasn't the brightest person in the world. Thank them for not caring that he wasn't perfect.

Thank them for accepting him into their family when his own had kicked him out.

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

"Thank you." His mouth moved but no words came out. It was getting a lot harder to breath.

He was hardly aware of something large and black crashing through the wall beside him.

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

Hardly aware of the black eyes that locked onto him.

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

Hardly aware of the voice that called his name.

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . . _

_Old Lady, Mr. Canis, Jake, Daphne, Sabrina . . ._

_Sabrina . . ._

_Sabrina . . ._

_Sabrina . . ._

That one name circled around his head as his last breath whispered past his lips.

!

The Phoenix watched as the humans flew away, the girl's hurt face adding itself to the faces of all the others that had looked at her with betrayal in their eyes.

_It is the terrible burden my people carry._

She had been warned before that things like this were going to happen frequently if she associated with humans. That, even though she tried to help, others were going to label her as a traitor and push her away.

The Phoenix closed her eyes, trying to shove away the doubt that was creeping through her. The doubt that kept her up night, after night. The doubt that maybe she had been wrong. That maybe she should have done something. Anything.

That maybe an innocent life had been lost for nothing.

The back of her neck prickled and she turned to find the Black Dragon staring at her from across the field. He was just hovering in the middle of the battle, regarding her with suspicion.

The Phoenix stared back at him for a few moments and then turned back to stare at the forest. Waiting.

The Black Dragon glared at her from the air, absentmindedly swatting a demon with his tail. He should be ecstatic right now. The battle was going a lot better than the last. The demons were dropping like flies and the humans were safe and yet . . . he couldn't fight the feeling of apprehension that twisted inside his gut.

_Something's wrong,_ He thought, tearing his eyes away from the Phoenix to look around.

Where was the annoying fairy? He had looked forward to smashing him against more walls.

His eyes moved back to the Phoenix. He had briefly seen her and the older human girl talking and even though he couldn't hear, the human girl had looked distraught. His eyes narrowed. Even though the King Dragon had said she was trustworthy, he never really trusted the Phoenix. There was just something about her that bothered him. The feeling that she was . . . hiding things. A lot of things.

A loud shriek cut through his thoughts and he turned away from the Phoenix towards the sound. Fear twisted inside him when he saw a demon heading straight for the Blue Dragon. The Blue Dragon, too busy fighting the demons in front of her, wasn't aware of the danger coming behind her.

_NO!_ The Black Dragon let out a furious roar and flew as fast as he could across the valley, head-butting the demon before it reached its target, the momentum smashing them both through the castle walls.

The Black Dragon scrapped his claws against the stone floor to stop himself from going through the next wall, managing to stop an inch from the wall.

He shook the stones off his back and stared down at the dead demon sprawled at his feet.

"That's what you get for cheating." He mumbled, doing the best he could to turn around in the small hallway so he could fly back out into the air. He stopped when something caught the corner of his eye.

The Black Dragon stared at the lump on the ground, the dust obscuring his vision, a low growl rumbling in the back of his throat.

Something else was in the hallway. Was it a demon?

When the thing didn't move, he stretched his neck out, trying to get a closer look as the dust settled around him.

No, it wasn't a demon it was. . .

The dragon gasped as recognition flooded him, but even as his eyes were taking in the blonde hair and green jacket, he couldn't bring himself to believe that the lifeless thing before him was the fairy.

The Black Dragon took a step forward, wincing when the stone floor creaked under his weight, and looked more closely at the fairy.

The fairy looked so different than the last time he had seen him. His skin was ghostly pale and his jacket was covered in blood and even from where he was, the dragon knew that if he touched him, the boy would be cold.

The Black Dragon looked at him, trying desperately to remember the boy's human name. "Huck?" He said and then shook his head. That wasn't it. "Puck?" He whispered and then louder. "PUCK?"

There was no response.

Shock and rage filled the Black Dragon as he stared down at the fairy, the emotions swirling wildly inside of him before being replaced by a dull grief.

Even though he would never admit it, especially to the Blue Dragon, he had liked the annoying fairy boy. The boy was bold and quite loyal to the poor, pathetic humans. He also seemed to have had the same problem of telling a girl he liked her that the Black Dragon had.

And now he was dead . . . unless . . .

Without hesitating, the Black Dragon carefully picked the fairy up with his teeth and flew out of the castle, black eyes scanning the valley for the Phoenix. He spotted her standing in the same spot. The dragon quickly flew to her, landing beside her and dropping the fairy gently to the ground.

"Heal him." The Black Dragon demanded.

The Phoenix stared into the forest, not once looking at the boy lying at her feet. "I can't." She said, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"What?" The Black Dragon roared. "How do you know you can't heal him when you haven't even looked at him?"

The Phoenix's head snapped towards him, her fiery eyes angrily boring into him. "I can't!" She snarled and then, as quickly as it had come, her anger left. "I can't heal the dead." She whispered.

The Black Dragon stared at her for a moment, taking in her pale face and the dark shadows underneath her eyes. She looked so tired, even her spiky hair seemed to droop. "Fine." He growled. "Then I'll take him back to the humans."

"NO!" The Phoenix shouted, stopping him before he picked up the boy. "Put him over there." She said, pointing to the edge of the forest.

The Black Dragon stared at her incredulously. "What?"

"Put him over there." She said, staring at him with an odd intensity burning in her eyes.

"Just at the edge of the forest."

"Are you insane?" The Black Dragon snapped. "I'm not leaving him . . ."

"Just trust me!" The Phoenix interrupted, her voice low and intense.

The two magical creatures stared at each other as the battle raged on over their heads.

The Black Dragon leaned down until he was staring her in the eye, his snout inches from her. "You'd better know what you're doing." He snarled. "Cause if this fairy isn't back where he belongs by morning, then I don't care how powerful you are, I'll kill you."

He carefully picked the fairy up and flew over to the edge of the forest.

The Phoenix watched him leave. She had long ago stopped counting how many times people had threatened to kill her.

!

Uncle Jake flew the carpet through the trees, stopping it as soon as they were under the shelter of the forest.

"Uncle Jake, what's wrong?" Daphne asked, looking worriedly at her uncle.

Uncle Jake sighed, running his hand through his hair, his face covered in sorrow. "I guess that's it." He whispered. 'I'll never be able to bring Briar back."

Sabrina gasped, that sentence pulling her out of her thoughts. Her hand flew to her pocket and she pulled out the potion bottle.

_At least one good thing came out of all this_ Sabrina thought, holding the bottle out to her uncle.

"Uncle Jake." She said.

Uncle Jake turned to her and took the bottle out of her hands. "Thanks, Sabrina, but there's no way we can get . . .demon . . . venom . . ." His voice trailed away when he spotted the green liquid floating around inside the bottle.

"How did . . ." But he didn't finish the question. Uncle Jake quickly jumped off the carpet and pulled the rose out of his pocket.

He carefully set the rose on the ground and with shaking hands, poured a few drops of the potion onto the flower.

They sat there, holding their breaths as they waited for something to happen, the shrieks of the demons faintly reaching their ears.

And waited. . .

And waited . . .

And waited . . .

"Maybe you're supposed to pour more onto it?" Daphne said, hopefully. But, despite her sister's hopefulness, Sabrina could already feel a knot of dread twist her stomach.

Uncle Jake poured a little more onto the rose and . . . nothing happened. The flower didn't even change colors.

They all stared at the flower, shock filling them. The potion didn't work.

"Uncle Jake . . ." Daphne said, tears choking her voice.

Uncle Jake stared at the rose, his hand squeezing the bottle and then he suddenly stood, flinging the bottle as hard as he could into the woods.

"DANG IT!" He screamed, running his hands through his hair. He took two steps further into the woods and then collapsed onto his knees.

"Dang it." This time it came out as a whisper as his shoulders started to shake with silent sobs.

Sabrina stared at him. She couldn't believe it. It hadn't worked. They had gone through all that . . . lost so much . . . for nothing. Puck . . . it had all been for nothing.

The potion hadn't worked.

Daphne turned and buried her face into her sister's jacket, sobs shaking her.

"Why?" The little girl sobbed. "Why?"

Sabrina just rubbed her sister's back, not saying a word. She didn't know why. She didn't know why things couldn't have worked out just once.

Sabrina squeezed her eyes shut; praying that when she opened them, she would be back at the camp and all of this would have been a dream. A horrible, horrible dream.

"I give up." Uncle Jake whispered, grief tearing the little bit of hope inside of him apart. His tears mixed in with the dirt below him, reminding him of that day. The day he had buried Briar Rose deep into the earth. "I give up."

"Wow. I'd never thought I'd hear that."

Sabrina spun around and gasped, staring in disbelief at the woman that stood behind them.

Right where the rose had been.

"A Grimm giving up." The woman said in that voice that was achingly familiar. She looked exactly like the way she had the last time they had seen her. She was wearing the same clothes and even had a smudge of dirt on her cheek, as if she hadn't been gone for weeks.

Uncle Jake froze and then slowly stood up, turning around to stare in astonishment at the woman behind him. The woman he never thought he'd see again.

"Briar?" He whispered, taking a few steps towards her. He stopped just a few inches away and hesitantly reached out a hand, as if he thought that as soon as he touched her, she would disappear.

His fingers brushed her cheek, gently wiping the dirt away, and she smiled at him, tears filling her green eyes. "Hey, Jake."

"Briar." Uncle Jake said, as if he couldn't believe she was really standing in front of him. He took a step towards her and then stopped, indecision filling him.

Would she really want to see the person who had killed her? Would she still love the man who was responsible for her death?

"Oh, Briar." He said, tears rolling down his cheeks, the familiar guilt eating at him. He took a step away from her and looked away. "I'm, so, so, sorry."

But instead of leaving him, instead of hitting him or screaming at him, she ran towards him, flinging her arms around him. "No." She said, hugging him tightly. She pulled back slightly, putting one hand on each side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "No. There's nothing to be sorry about." She said firmly, her green eyes pleading him to understand. "I. Love. You. Nothing is ever going to change that."

Uncle Jake stared in her eyes, joy bursting inside of him when he saw no hint of accusation in those bright green eyes. He couldn't believe it. After all that had happened . . . she forgave him.

"You're amazing." He whispered.

Briar rested her head on his shoulder. "I know."

Uncle Jake held her tight, thinking that he'd never let go, breathing in her familiar scent, until he felt something sharp digging into his back.

The ring.

He took a step back, pulling the ring off her finger before dropping to one knee.

"Might as well do this right." He said, grinning up at her.

He held the ring in his palm, staring at the woman he loved with all his heart, and there, in the middle of the woods with a demon battle going on just a few feet away, he proposed.

"Briar Rose, will you marry me?"

Briar Rose wrapped her hand around his and dropped to her knees in front of him, tears of joy falling from her green eyes.

"Yes." She said, grinning at him. "Yes. Yes. Yes."

She leaned forward and kissed him, the kiss sending little bolts of electricity through them.

Uncle Jake leaned in, not willing to part yet, not willing to separate from the woman he loved, the kiss tasting so familiar.

Tasting like love, acceptance, and home.

Daphne bit down hard on her palm, tears of joy making tracks down her dirty face. "It worked, Sabrina." She whispered. "The potion . . . hey, where's Puck?" The little girl looked around for the fairy, a frown on her face. "Did that goober stay to help the dragons fight the demons?"

Sabrina didn't say anything; instead she turned around and looked out through the trees. She knew she should feel something. Happiness, anger, sorrow, guilt, but it felt like someone had sucked all the emotion out of her, leaving her feeling hollow.

Daphne stared at her sister, fear twisting in her gut when she saw the look on her sister's face. "Where's Puck?" Daphne asked, tears filling her eyes. "Puck?" She whispered.

Sabrina didn't say anything; she didn't trust herself to say anything. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she'd lose her control and her emotions would once again swirl around inside of her, overwhelming her. She stared intently through the trees. She could just make out the shape of the demon castle.

She watched as the dark castle collapsed on itself, a cloud of dust billowing around it, feeling completely numb.


	11. Without a Doubt

_**~This is the way you left me**_

_**I'm not pretending**_

_**No hope, no love, no glory,**_

_**No happy ending~ Mika  
**_

!

She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of the wind brushing against her cheek and the sound of leaves rustling. It seemed like forever since she'd been in the woods alone.

She's always loved the forest, which was paradoxical considering all that she'd been through but . . . there was just something about it that seemed to call to her. Maybe it was the millions of colors or sounds the constantly filled the forest from the bright red, yellow, and blues of the flowers to the many different bird songs. Maybe because it was filled with so many forbidden things. Maybe it was the beautiful flowers or the sweet smelling fruit, the ones that only grew outside of the path you were supposed to stay on, that called to her, inviting her to stray from the path.

The last time she had strayed from the path her grandmother had died and she had gone insane.

Little Red Riding Hood turned her head slightly. If she strained her ears she could just make out the voices of two men over the sound of birds chirping.

When Sabrina, Daphne, Uncle Jake, and Briar Rose made it back to the camp, the others had demanded to know what happened. Charming called for a meeting and everyone filed into a cabin, not his cabin of course, he wouldn't want people to dirty his carpet. While a pale faced Uncle Jake told the story, Red had been looking at Sabrina. The blond haired girl had seemed . . . distant, her face completely blank of all emotion. It wasn't until Uncle Jake finished the tale that she realized why.

It was because the fairy wasn't coming back.

The silence that had filled the cabin only lasted a few seconds before turmoil hit. Everyone started asking questions at once, some screaming, some barely whispering. Only four people remained quiet, Red, Granny Relda, tears of grief rolling gently down her chubby cheeks, Briar Rose, guilt clear on her tear streaked face, and Sabrina. The girl just sat there, a blank look on her face as if oblivious to the turmoil around her . . . and inside her.

Red knew what Sabrina was going through. She knew the state the girl was in now, the state where you were blissfully separated from the world and what was going on around you. She also knew that state only lasted for a little while before reality slapped you in the face.

She had gone through it when her family had died.

Finally, Charming had hollered for attention and everyone stopped talking to look at the prince.

"We need to send people to look around the castle and see if any magical items have survived the fire." He had said, his face looking like it had been carved out of stone. Red had figured out that's how the prince handled emotion. He didn't meet if face on, but shoved it away and busied himself with other things.

Charming and Mr. Canis had volunteered to go and Red had decided to go along with them. She didn't like being around people who were grieving. It reminded her of her own pain.

Red frowned, searching the feelings that swirled inside of her. She was sad, of course. Even though the fairy had been annoying, smelly, and rude, he was . . . had been funny. Besides, she had been a psychopathic murderer, what right did she have to judge others? Puck had also had some nice moments. One time, while rolling his eyes and grumbling, he had given her a donut from his secret stash. Of course the donut had mold on it, but it was the thought that counted.

Red opened her eyes and sighed, staring down at her feet, watching as a worm made its way through the grass. Puck was also the only one who knew what it felt like not to have a family, except for Mr. Canis . . . but he was different. Puck knew what it felt like to live with a family that, no matter how desperately you wanted it to be, wasn't yours.

Tears filled her eyes as she remembered the first night she had spent in the Grimm house. She had stood outside Granny Relda's room, uncomfortable sleeping in the woman's room . . . and Relda snored like a trucker. She had stood in the hallway for what felt like hours, not knowing what to do. She defiantly didn't want to go to Mr. Canis, the man had still scared her, and she didn't think Sabrina liked her enough to be woken up at 2:00 in the morning. That left only one person.

Finally she had gathered enough courage to walk down the hall and knock on Puck's door. At first she thought he hadn't heard until a serious of incoherent complaints reached her through the wooden door. Before she could turn and run, the door swung open, revealing Puck, his blond hair tousled and his eyes glazed with sleep.

Red looked up at him, her eyes wide. "Sorry I ripped your wings out." She squeaked, fear making her say the first thing that came to mind.

Puck had just stared at her for a moment, blinking slowly. Then he had mumbled something about crazy psychopaths and 'don't pet the chimpanzees' as he stood aside to let her in.

He snored too.

A tear drop slid down Red's cheek and fell to the ground, almost hitting the worm. She was going to miss the fairy.

A trig snapped, sounding like a gunshot, and her head snapped up. She gasped in fear when she saw someone standing in front of her. The person was covered in a dark red cloak, the hood pulled up so its face was covered in shadow. The front part of the cloak was covered in dirt and grass stains, as if the person had been crawling around on the forest floor.

Red turned and prepared to run when the person said, "Wait!" The person's voice was feminine but unfamiliar.

Red hesitated before turning around slowly, making sure there was a lot of space between her and the woman. She knew from experience that it wasn't wise to talk to strangers but . . . there was something in the woman's voice, an urgency that suggested that what she was going to say was important.

"Your friends missed something." The woman said, her voice soft and gentle as she held out a hand.

Red stared at the small glass bottle resting on the woman's palm. She carefully reached out and took it, warmth spreading up her arm when her fingers brushed the woman's skin.

Red held the bottle in her hand, staring at the small amount of liquid that swirled around in bottom of the bottle. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the liquid changed colors.

"Wha . . ." She started, looking up, but the woman was gone. The woman had disappeared as quietly as a ghost.

Red stared at the spot the woman had once stood, griping the bottle tight in her hand, the only sound being the rustle of leaves and the flap of a giant bird's wings.

A startled shout broke through her thoughts and she turned around when another shout sounded through the air.

Mr. Canis and Charming must have found something.

Red gripped the bottle tight in her hand and ran to them, wondering what magical thing the bottle's liquid could do.

!

_Why?_

The soft _thud_ of her feet hitting the forest floor and her heavy breathing filled Sabrina's ears as she raced through the trees. She didn't know where she was going; only that she had to get away. She had to get far away from it all .From the pain, the sorrow, the guilt . . . from everything.

She didn't understand why they called it heartbreak. To her it felt like everything was broken. She felt like someone was playing tug-o-war with her emotions.

_Why?_

Every breath she took filled her lungs with cold air, burning them, and branches whipped her face, cutting her skin, but she hardly noticed. She didn't stop, even when she tripped over a root. She just got back up and started to run again, trying to run away and leave all the confusion behind.

_Why?_

She knew she should feel happy but at the same time she knew she should feel sad. The only emotion that was clear was anger; anger at herself, anger at the Everafters, anger at everyone; anger at life for taking everything she loved away from her.

A cramp in her side forced her to slow to a walk but still she didn't stop moving.

_Why?_

And all the time that she had been wondering what she should be feeling, her heart had been breaking.

Not in two, but in a million pieces.

_Why?_

Why had she rejected him? Why had she called him names? Why had she screamed at him? Threatened him? Why hadn't she been nicer to him? Why hadn't she told him she liked him?

Why hadn't she saved him?

_WHY?_

Sabrina stopped walking and leaned her back against a tree trunk, slowly sliding down it until she was sitting on the hard ground. She knew her family was probably worried about her but she just couldn't stay in that camp, the camp that seemed strangely quiet now; the camp where everyone was just as confused as she was.

She couldn't stay in that camp and see the guilt on everyone's faces.

She could tell Granny Relda felt that it was her fault for not trying to stop them.

Uncle Jake felt guilty that he let them come along.

Briar Rose felt that it was her fault because she was the reason all of this had happened, that if it wasn't for her, none of it would have happened.

Sabrina wanted to scream at them. To yell at them that they weren't the ones who had been there. They weren't the ones who had stood just a few inches away from him. That they weren't the ones who should have done something.

_Why?_

_It's strange_, she thought, _how someone can be standing beside you, breathing, laughing, alive and then be as cold as stone in a matter of seconds._

It was like that when Briar Rose had died. One second she was alive and then she was crumpled underneath a tree.

And now Briar was back. Sabrina knew she should be happy that the woman was back and yet . . . she just couldn't make herself feel happy. It was very . . . bittersweet. It was bittersweet that they saved someone they loved at the expense of another loved ones life. But she didn't blame Briar for any of it. Sabrina knew the blame rested solely on her.

_Why?_

Right now she'd do anything for another tear in time. A chance to go back and fix everything, a chance to stop the thing that had happened in that dark hallway. A chance to stop all the pain, sorrow, guilt and regret from happening.

_Why?_

Why hadn't she done something? Why hadn't she been faster? She prided herself on her ability to think quickly in tough situations but the moment she needed to do something, all she could do was stand there and gap. She should have done something! She should have jumped on the demon's back or something!

She felt anger build inside of her. Why did it have to happen like that? Why couldn't everything have worked out, just this once? WHY?

She snorted, resting her head back against the tree's hard bark. But what had she expected? A happy ending? If there was one thing that living in a town filled with fairy tale characters had taught her, it was that there is no such thing as a happy ending.

_Why?_

It surprised her how the sun kept shining and the birds kept singing, as if oblivious to the fact that someone had just died.

"Why?" The word escaped from her and hung heavily in the air, waiting for someone to answer it.

A sound reached Sabrina's ears and she looked towards it, listening as it got closer. She couldn't fight off the irrational thought that it might be him, that somehow he hadn't died. Instead, a bunch of fireflies flew out of the shadows to float in front of her, but she knew better than to think that they were fireflies. She knew that they were actually pixies, Puck's minions, and that they liked to sting people, but there was something wrong with them. They seemed . . . duller than usual. The light they emitted looked gray and dim as if they were sad.

Sabrina scowled at them; they had been following her around since she made it back to the camp, as if they knew she was responsible for their master's disappearance. Now they floated in front of her, twittering, almost like they were trying to talk to her.

Trying to ask her where their master was.

Suddenly Sabrina couldn't take it anymore. Anger boiled inside of her and all the tears she had been holding back burst out, flowing down her cheeks in an endless river.

"Leave me alone!" She screamed at them, tears streaming down her face. "He's gone! He's not coming back! He's never coming back! He's gone!"

She pulled her knees to her chest, sobs shaking her as the truth finally smacked her in the face. "He's gone." She whispered and buried her face between her knees. "And it's my fault. My fault."

She squeezed her eyes shut but the tears still managed to squeeze past her eyelids.

Puck was dead and it was her fault. All her fault.

A choked sob escaped her lips as guilt and sorrow tore her heart to shreds. "I'm so sorry." She whispered as if somehow, wherever he was, he might hear her. "I'm so sorry, Puck. I'm sorry."

Something soft brushed her hand, her arms and her cheek. She looked up, startled to find the pixies settling on her arms and head and for once, they didn't sting her. In fact, they felt kind of soothing.

The magical creatures started to emit a soft, beautiful sound. It sounded like they were humming a tune from a sad song, the melody quickly filling the air.

Sabrina closed her eyes, oddly comforted by the sound and the pixies presence, tears still streaming down her face.

"You really shouldn't cry, Grimm. It makes you look even uglier."

Sabrina tensed at the voice, not daring to open her eyes. _It can't be._ She thought, squeezing her eyes shut tighter. _I just imagined it. He's gone . . ._

Without meaning to, she opened her eyes and gasped.

There he was, against all reason, standing in front of her, leaning heavily against a tree. He looked as pale as a ghost and dark circles were under his eyes, standing out like bruises against his pale skin. His jacket was still covered in blood but he was there, his green eyes twinkling in amusement, grinning at her with that mischievous grin.

She stared at him, wondering if her mind was playing cruel tricks on her.

"Puck?" She asked softly as if afraid that if she spoke to loudly, he might disappear. "Who do you think it is? The Easter Bunny?" He said, smiling weakly at her.

Sabrina stared at him, hardly aware that she wasn't breathing, and then understanding hit her, replacing the happiness with cold suspicion.

"What are you?" Sabrina demanded, slowly standing up and glaring at him.

Puck frowned at her. "What?"

Sabrina glared at him, her body shaking in anger. "What type of monster are you?' She snarled. "You think I'm stupid enough to fall for your tricks?" And she almost had fallen for it. Sabrina mentally kicked herself. How could she have let hope get in the way of rational thinking? There was no way Puck could have survived. This . . . _thing_ in front of her was just another monster looking for a snack.

Not-Puck blinked at her in astonishment. "Sabrina," It said. "It's really me."

Sabrina scowled at it. Whatever it was, it was really good. It had his voice right and everything. She bent down and picked up a stick, watching as Not-Puck's eyes widened. "If you think I'm going to fall for . . ."

Someone stepped out of the shadows and took Not-Puck's hand. "Sabrina, it's really him."

Sabrina stared in shock at Little Red Riding Hood. The little girl was blinking up at her nervously, as if she regretted saying anything.

"I . . . some lady gave me the potion bottle and it still had some of the potion in it." Little Red stammered, the words rushing out of her mouth. "And I gave it to Mr. Canis and Charming and they poured it on him. They're back at the camp telling everyone if you want to make sure. I came here because Puck wanted to see you." Little Red clamped her mouth shut, forcing herself to stop talking.

While the little girl had been talking, Puck had been staring at her, his green eyes pleading her to believe. "Please don't hit me with a stick again."

Sabrina blinked at him, lowering her arm and dropping the stick onto the ground. "Puck? It's really you?"

He grinned at her, nervousness that she might still smack him in his eyes. "Yep. In the flesh."

Sabrina stared at him for a moment, disbelief and happiness battling inside of her.

Happiness won.

She ran to him, throwing her arms around him, knocking him off balance. Puck started to fall backward but three pixies flew behind him and effortlessly held him up.

Sabrina pulled back slightly, stared into the emerald green eyes she never thought she'd see again and . . . punched his arm.

"Ow!" Puck cried, indignantly. "What was that for?"

"Don't you ever even think of doing that again!" Sabrina snapped. "Or I'll kill you myself!"

Puck grinned at her. "Don't worry; I'm not planning on it."

Sabrina grinned back at him and hugged him, leaning her head against his chest. Happiness filled her every time his heart beat and his lungs filled with air.

He was alive.

Red watched the two older kids hug, feeling like she was intruding. She turned to go but stopped when a sound reached her ears. She looked over to see the pixies, growing brighter by the second, start to bob around in the air, like they were dancing.

She smiled, watching as the pixies danced, happy that their master was back.

~Two weeks later~

Sabrina scowled, wiping the sweat off her forehead, and shifted on her feet again. She really wished Friar Tuck would hurry it up and just tell them to kiss already, she was burning up! It probably didn't help that she had on a pair of pants underneath her dress but who knew what would happen? It's not easy to fight a monster while wearing a dress. At least it wasn't raining.

Despite the humid weather, Briar Rose and Uncle Jake had decided to have the wedding outside because there really wasn't a cabin large enough to hold everyone.

Sabrina shifted again, standing between Daphne and her mother in the Maid-of-Honor place, her gaze drifting from the Friar to Briar Rose. The princess looked even more stunning than usual. The long, white wedding dress stood out against her smooth cocoa skin. Her long dark hair fell gracefully down her back, curling slightly and her bright green eyes shone with happiness.

In front of her, Uncle Jake looked just as handsome. His blonde hair had been combed and for once he wasn't wearing his long overcoat. The nice black tuxedo almost drew your eyes away from the tennis shoes he was wearing.

He had told Granny Relda that there was no way he was going to fight monsters in dress shoes, a tux was bad enough! When Granny had told him there wasn't going to be any monsters at his wedding, he had just laughed and said that in Ferryport Landing you never knew what was going to happen.

Sabrina's eyes drifted to her granny. The older woman was sitting in one of the few fold-out chairs they had found in the camp. Granny Relda was wearing a dress with a rose pattern and a hat that had a bunch of roses on one side. The old woman caught Sabrina looking at her and smiled, love clear in her green eyes.

Sabrina smiled back, her eyes drifting over the large crowd.

Everyone in the camp had shown up for the wedding. There was Robin Hood and his merry men, King Arthur standing with Merlin and Archimedes and . . .

Sabrina gasped when her eyes met the warm fiery eyes of the Phoenix. The woman smiled slightly and nodded her head at Sabrina. Sabrina quickly looked away; she still didn't know what to feel about the woman. It became obvious that the Phoenix was the one who had given Red the potion bottle, especially after the little girl had described the woman's 'warm hands', but Sabrina still didn't know if she trusted the woman yet.

Someone tugged on her sleeve, breaking through her thoughts. Sabrina looked down at Daphne, who was biting her palm. The little girl had decided to wear her hair down, just like her older sister, instead of in its usual ponytails. That, combined with the red dress, made Daphne look older than nine . . . that was until she grinned excitedly up at Sabrina. She pointed frantically to the crowd, oblivious to Henry's stern glares and the way he was mouthing, _stand still!_

Sabrina followed her sister's finger, her eyes scanning the faces in the crowd, and saw two large shapes sitting just inside the camp's gate, one black and one blue.

_So, they did get the invitation._ Sabrina thought, smiling at the dragons.

Daphne tugged on her sleeve again. Sabrina looked down irritably at her sister and saw the little girl pointing to her chest.

"Look at their chest." The little girl staged whispered, causing a few people in the crowd to chuckle. Daphne seemed oblivious to the laughter though, excitement brightening her eyes and causing her to bounce slightly up and down.

Sabrina looked back at the dragons and stared at their chests, a smile breaking on her face.

In the midst of the sea of blue scales, a black scale stood out on the Blue Dragon's chest and a blue scale stood out on the Black Dragon's chest. Sabrina's smile widened. Even though they were far away, she was sure their tails were wrapped together behind them.

_"When a male dragon loves a female dragon he gives her one of his scales and then she gives him one of her scales. They place each others scales close to their hearts to symbolize that they will always be there for each other."_

Sabrina's eyes wandered over to Puck. The fairy boy was shifting restlessly from one foot to the other, tugging at his suit. He was standing between Henry, who had made it his sworn duty to make sure the boy didn't mess the wedding up, and Mr. Canis. It had taken five of Robin Hood's men, including Little John, to put a tux on the fairy and five seconds after he had it on, he had gotten it dirty.

Puck caught her looking at him and stuck his tongue out at her. Sabrina scowled at him and rolled her eyes but she couldn't fight off the burst of happiness that shot through her. For the first few days, she had been worried it was all just a dream, that she would wake up and Puck would be dead. That thought had disappeared immediately when the annoying fairy filled her bed with pinecones.

Puck was alive. He was still paler than usual and weaker, even after two weeks he couldn't stand up for long without swaying. She watched as the fairy swayed on his feet, almost falling over, until Henry grabbed him by the elbow. Henry kept a hold on Puck's elbow, holding him steady, and looked over at his daughter. Henry rolled his eyes and jerked his head towards Friar Tuck, mouthing, "He talks too much."

Sabrina smiled, feeling the disapproval, and amusement, rolling off of her mother as Veronica glared at Henry.

"Jacob Grimm, do you take Briar Rose to be you lawful, wedded wife?" Friar Tuck asked. Finally, he was getting to the point!

Jake stared at Briar, butterflies tumbling around in his stomach. "I do."

"And do you, Briar Rose, take Jacob Grimm as your lawful, wedded husband?"

Briar Rose stared at him, tears of joy welling in her eyes. "I do."

Friar Tuck smiled. "I now pronounce you husband and wife!"

Before Friar Tuck said anything else, Jake leaned forward and kissed Briar, wrapping his arms around her as the crowd cheered.

Friar Tuck laughed. "Well, okay. You may kiss the bride again, if you want."

Sabrina looked at Briar Rose and Uncle Jake locked in a kiss as if they were the only ones in the world and then her eyes slid over to Puck. She saw him staring back at her and she blushed, quickly looking down at Daphne.

The little girl grinned up at Sabrina and waggled her eyebrows knowingly, pointing over to Puck. "So, when are you guys getting married?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes but for once, she didn't deny it.

!

Sabrina decided that she would never again believe the myth that men can not cook. The little sandwiches the Merry Men had made were delicious . . . though she didn't know what was in them.

Sabrina took another bite of a sandwich, watching as Everafters walked around and mingled, plates and cups of fruit punch in their hands.

So far, no monsters had decided to attack.

"And what is a beautiful young lady like yourself doing all alone?"

Sabrina spun around to find herself staring into the kind blue eyes of Merlin.

Sabrina smiled, there was something about the old wizard that made her relax. "Keeping watch for any monsters."

"Ah," Merlin said, his eyes twinkling. "But I don't think any monster would be dumb enough to attack a camp when two highly trained dragons are visiting."

Sabrina looked over at the Blue and Black Dragon, smiling as she watched Daphne try to throw cream puffs into the giant creatures' mouths.

Uncle Jake and a few others were leaving in a few weeks to go on a mission to free the dragons from the Scarlet Hand. They planned to leave right after Jake and Briar's honeymoon, which they were going to spend in a cabin. Charming had been nice enough to give them the second best cabin, the best being his own and there was no way he was going to give that up.

"How come we weren't invited to their wedding?" Sabrina asked.

"Dragon ceremonies are very private, even only a select few of their own kind are allowed to attend them. No humans or other creatures are allowed to watch the sacred ceremony." Merlin said. His blue eyes lit up excitedly at the prospect of sharing information with someone else. "Though I've heard . . ."

The brown owl on his shoulder yawned irritably. "Oh, please, shut up." Archimedes looked at Sabrina and rolled his large, golden eyes. "Get him talking about any magical creature and he'll never shut up. He just talks, and talks and talks. It's quite annoying."

Merlin poked him. "Be quiet, you old coot!"

Sabrina stared at the old magician as he and the owl engaged in a poking contest. If he knew a lot about magical creatures than maybe . . .

"What do you know about phoenixes?" She asked before she could stop herself.

Archimedes immediately stopped poking the old man's head with his beak and considered her through golden eyes. "Oh, now you've done it." He grumbled.

Merlin ignored him and looked at Sabrina, not a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Not much is known about Phoenixes. They're kind of like magical hermits, keeping to themselves. Why?"

"Well, I was just wondering . . . how did the phoenix feather kill the Demon Queen?" Sabrina asked. The question had been bugging her since the incident. It amazed her how a tiny feather could kill something so . . . big and powerful.

"Ah, yes." Merlin said, his brow furrowing in thought. "I can not promise you a true answer, only one that's based on rumors and guesses. It is said that Phoenixes are creatures of good magic." Merlin's blue eyes grew distant, as if he were staring at a place only he could see. "It is said that their magic cancels out bad magic. There are rumors that kings used to dip Phoenix feathers into their drinks to rid them of poison, which made the poison testers quite happy."

"But . . . the Phoenix feather destroyed the Demon Queen." Sabrina said, blinking in confusion at the warlock. "If the Phoenix feather takes away the bad, then how come it destroyed the demon instead of just turning her into something . . . good?"

"My guess is that there wasn't a single speck of goodness inside the demon. So, when the feather's magic canceled out the bad, it destroyed the monster." Merlin said.

Sabrina sighed, she was no closer to understanding the Phoenix than before. All the wizard had given her were rumors and guesses.

"Are you giving away my secrets, Warlock?"

Sabrina looked over at the sound to see the Phoenix standing a few feet away, a small smile on her face. She was still wearing her cloak, though it was a lot cleaner. The air around the woman oozed confidence but her fiery eyes were filled with what looked like nervousness when she looked at Sabrina.

"Of course not!' Merlin said, winking conspiratorially at Sabrina. "I was just discussing the musings of an old man."

"Whatever." The Phoenix said, rolling her eyes in mock anger. "You were always a blabber mouth."

"Told you." Archimedes muttered, earning another poke from Merlin.

"Wait, does that mean Phoenixes are . . . perfect?" Sabrina asked, frowning.

The Phoenix laughed, a noise that sounded oddly bitter, and all the happiness drained from her eyes. "Oh, no." She said. 'Phoenixes are far from perfect. We have our own set of rules we must obey." Her eyes filled with pain and she looked away from them. "And our own punishments for breaking those rules." She whispered.

"What happens if a phoenix breaks those rules?" Daphne asked. Sabrina jumped and glared at the little girl. Daphne had snuck up on her without her hearing. "Do they . . . die?" Daphne said, her eyes wide with horror.

The Phoenix just shook her head, her fiery eyes filled with an old pain.

"No." Merlin said, answering for the Phoenix, his voice dead serious. "They become a completely different creature. A creature ruled by darkness instead of light. I hear people call them Shadows. Not many people who have encountered them lived to tell the tale."

A shiver ran down Sabrina's spin. "Is there one here in Ferryport Landing."

"For our sake, I hope not." Merlin muttered.

"HEY! MERLIN!" One of King Arthur's knights yelled. "Come over here and be a judge! Sir Christian thinks he can eat more pickles than Sir Kay!"

Merlin rolled his eyes. "Oh, dear, this should be interesting." He nodded goodbye to Daphne and Sabrina and walked away as Archimedes muttered, "I hate pickles."

A long uncomfortable silence settled in the air and Sabrina shifted on her feet, not knowing if she should strike up a conversation with the Phoenix, or if she even wanted to talk to her.

"I see he has gotten better." The Phoenix said suddenly, staring straight ahead.

Sabrina followed the woman's eyes and saw Puck standing beside a table, stealthily shoving food into his pocket.

"Yeah." Sabrina said shortly. She looked at the woman through the corners of her eyes. She had liked the Phoenix the first time they had met her but now . . . now she knew there was much more to the woman than the goofy side she had shown them back at the Devil's Drop. There was just so many secrets surrounding the Phoenix, her past was a mystery to everyone, and Sabrina didn't know if she could trust someone she knew so little about.

The Phoenix looked at her as if she had heard the girl's thoughts. "Sabrina," The woman said, staring into the girl's eyes. "I know what I did didn't seem right to you . . . but I did what I knew I had to." The Phoenix said, her fiery red eyes pleading the girl to understand. "I know you might not ever see that but . . . I hope one day you'll find it in your heart to forgive me."

"You shouldn't be asking me for forgiveness." Sabrina said, looking over at Puck.

The Phoenix smiled slightly. "I already asked him. He said he forgave me . . . and that I have to pay him ten thousand dollars."

Sabrina couldn't help but smile, that sounded like Puck.

Daphne smiled up at the woman. "Don't worry," She said, giving the magical creature a hug. "I forgive you."

The Phoenix smiled down at the little girl and then looked back up at Sabrina, her eyes staring at the girl questioningly.

Sabrina stared at the woman, not knowing what she should say or if she even could forgive her. Should she tell her that she still had nightmares? Nightmares filled with Puck lying dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood? Could she really forgive someone who knew that was going to happen and yet did nothing to stop it?

But Puck was alive, and so was Briar.

_Things happen for a reason._

If that hadn't have happened to Puck, would Briar still be dead? Would Uncle Jake really have left? Would that have caused them to lose the war?

Had the Phoenix known all along that Puck wasn't going to die?

A small smile formed on the Phoenix's face. "The future is a very complex thing." She said softly.

"And so is the past." Sabrina said. "Would you be willing to share yours with us?"

The Phoenix blinked, a troubled look in her eyes. "Maybe one day you'll learn it, whether you want to or not." She said, so softly that Sabrina couldn't be sure if she had heard correctly.

Sabrina stared at the woman and then did something she normally didn't do; she took a leap of faith.

She held her hand out to the woman and smiled, "I forgive you."

A relieved smile broke across the Phoenix's face. "Thank you." She said, her smile turning into that familiar, goofy grin as a Merry Man walked by. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I think it's about time I mingle." She said, watching as the man walked by. "I do love men in tights." She said, winking at Sabrina before running after the man.

Sabrina watched the woman leave, giving up on fighting the smile the broke across her face. She didn't know if she trusted the woman completely but she couldn't help but like the Phoenix's goofy attitude.

She looked away from the Phoenix to see Henry and Veronica walking over to them, holding hands. Veronica let go of her husband's hand and hugged her older daughter.

"Looks like everything worked out." Veronica said, beaming.

"I guess so." Sabrina said, watching as Puck made his way over to them, his cheeks filled with so many cream puffs that it made him look like a chipmunk.

"I'm so proud of you two!" Veronica said, hugging Daphne next.

"But, please, don't ever go running after demons and dragons again." Henry said, grinning at them.

"Hey, marshmallow!" Puck said, swallowing his mouthful of cream puffs with a loud GULP. "Gerald thinks you're cute!"

He pointed over to a small boy standing a few tables away. The boy looked around Daphne's age, with curly brown hair, dimples when he smiled, and gray eyes. The boy smiled hesitantly at Daphne.

"He looks cute." Veronica said and Daphne giggled.

"And normal looking." Henry muttered, relieved.

The boy did look normal . . . until he stepped out from behind the table. Sabrina gasped. The boy's legs were bent strange and covered in hair, and instead of feet, he had hooves.

Gerald was part freaking-goat.

Gerald smiled shyly and waved at Daphne. Daphne giggled again and waved back at him.

"Oh, Daphne, please no." Henry moaned. "There's only so much a father can take. I mean, the fairy's bad enough."

Veronica elbowed him in the side, looking at him sternly.

"Uh, I mean, Puck's," Henry stammered, looking from Sabrina to Puck. Sabrina had to fight to hold back a smile and Puck just stared at Henry while shoving a sandwich into his mouth. "Puck's . . . well, he's . . . uh . . . oh look, they're cutting the cake." Henry said, relief covering his face as he pointed to the large wedding cake.

Sabrina watched as Uncle Jake and Briar cut the cake and smiled at the love that was clear on their faces. Her eyes slid over to Puck. For once, everything seemed to have worked out.

The newlyweds each held a piece cake and smiled playfully at each other before smashing the cake into each other's faces.

Puck green eyes glinted mischievously. "Now that looks like fun!" He said, reaching over and picking up a plate from a nearby table, grinning at Sabrina.

"Puck!" Sabrina said warningly, just before the fairy boy smashed the plate in her face.

Sabrina growled as little bits of food fell from her face, glaring murder at the hysterically laughing fairy. "You're so dead!" She shouted, picking up a plate and throwing it at him.

Puck ducked and the plate flew over his head . . . and right into the back of Snow White's head.

Snow gasped in disgust as she wiped the food off her head and shoulders. She glared at Charming, who was laughing his head off. "Oh, you think that's funny, William?" She said, her voice dangerously low but her eyes twinkling playfully as she picked up a handful of food. "Well, let's see how funny you think it is now!" She said, laughing as she threw the food at him, covering his expensive suit in chicken.

Soon food was flying everywhere, as everyone joined in the giant food fight. People were screaming and laughing as bits of cake, sandwiches and even pickles, flew through the air. Even the dragons joined in, but after pelting somebody with cake and sending him flying across the camp ground, they decided to just watch.

Pixies flew around, gracefully dodging the edible projectiles and flying high out of range, their loud twitters sounding like laughter.

Sabrina grabbed a handful of cake and ducked to avoid being hit by what looked like a chicken leg, her blue eyes scanning the area until they spotted blond hair in the sea of flailing limbs and chicken. Sabrina grinned and ran over to it, dodging a screaming dwarf, who someone had mistaken for food, as he went soaring through the air.

Sabrina ran over to Puck just as he turned around, a piece of cake in his hands.

"Aha,' He said, grinning at her, talking in a fake Japanese accent. "I see you have come prepared, young grasshopper, but now, you must face your vanilla-frosting doom!"

"Bring it on, stink-bottom." Sabrina said, grinning back at him.

Icing and cake crumbs flew everywhere as they both smashed the cake in each others face.

Sabrina gasped and wiped the cake from her eyes and glared at Puck. She took one look at his frosting covered face and her glare turned into laughter. He looked ridiculous and she knew she probably looked the same.

"You got a little something on your face, barf-brain." She said, chuckling as she reached out to wipe his face. As she was wiping off the icing, a sudden fear griped her making her freeze, her hand resting an inch from his cheek. She stared at him, memorizing every inch and plane of his face. Memorizing the way his green eyes sparkled mischievously and how the sun turned his blonde hair into gold. She wanted to remember everything just in case . . .

Puck reached up and grabbed her hand. "I'm not going anywhere, Grimm." He winked at her. "I'll be here to prank you for as long as you live."

"Lucky me." Sabrina grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Puck laughed and then, without warning, leaned forward and kissed her.

Sabrina's eyes widened in surprise, her first thought was to punch the boy in the gut again, but then she relaxed, closing her eyes and leaning into the kiss. Little bolts of electricity shot through her when their lips met, and a warm feeling spread throughout her body, leaving her feeling breathless and lightheaded.

Puck was alive.

It was then, covered in cake icing and kissing a fairy, that she knew, without a doubt, that happy endings could happen.

~Fin~

**Elizabeth Grimm - You nailed it! =D**

**Well, there you have it. The end of my story and I hoped you liked it!**

**I might do a sequel . . . or it might not be a sequel. I haven't decided yet. I guess it depends on if you guys want the same amount of 'romance' and action this story had or if you want more 'romance' and action. =) If I do write another story, it might be a while before I post it because, 1. I need to finish my other story (I haven't updated that since 2009! 0.0) 2. I'm planning on writing most, if not all of it, before I post anything so I can make sure it's good and I won't have the problem of not updating for months. But I can tell you that it has something to do with Jacob Grimm ( have you ever wondered what he was doing while Wilhelm, or whatever his name is, was setting up the barrier?) and it's going to be PuckxSabrina or maybe SabrinaxOC, dun, dun dun!  
**

**Anyway, thanks**

**Tofu-rox, Bribri, Ayns and Sky, Zombie Attacks, Schadenfreude62, Julie Margaret, Twilarose,HoLlIwOoDbOuNd13, DarrenShanIsMine, Rae Hartland, Marry me Puck, Simply Pirate, Aria Elizabeth Skittles, Trickster Queen464, alexatheknight, ladedalada, FaminaSG, Curlscat, Lara D, Cartwright123, My-Room-Is-My-Retreat, 1151133354445, iizninja!, Horsegirl99, DragonFly7312, mrf18, cece, RockSuperstar, plaincrazysuckup, KENDRA1212, Louise101, Kawthar, gem, Na'viWolf, Isabel in lala land, Lumiere Nordiques, Elizabeth Grimm, pwnd2398, Dreamgreen16, Violet Black, ILoveGeorgeCooper, VolleyballGoddess, Everaftergirl05, ching chong, nnnnnn, mandolindoodler, Random,**

**for reviewing. And thanks to everyone who even read this story. YOU GUYS ROCK! =D**


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